The Sister You Never Knew Existed
by ilikethemsalty
Summary: There's a new, mysterious elf named Sarah. She came from the Forbidden Cities, too. Her past slowly unveils to view and the Neverseen make their next target. (Based on Shannon Messenger's "Keeper of the Lost Cities." All rights belong to Shannon Messenger.)
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

_He took in the sight of his new children. The next generation in the family._

_Twins. An awful disgrace, he reasoned. He looked at the two, the tiny girl with the beginnings of hair, and a little boy, with a solid smile._

_ He could only keep one, otherwise he would face the great stain of the family reputation. He glanced down at the two. _

_The boy seemed to be the more confident of them, with his strong voice and words. Hating himself, he concluded his decision. "Take the girl away," he sighed. Knowing he'd never see his daughter again. _


	2. Chapter 1

*Chapter One*

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR ENTIRE LIFE WAS A LIE? Sarah never knew how much her life would change that day. That Monday she was just walking home from a usual day of school. She was chewing on her bubble gum, which was the same tint of color her hair was.

Sarah was the only person on the entire street. It was eerily silent except for the sound of her shoes thumping on the cement. Then a whistling howl came from nowhere. She had a cold premonition. But Sarah kept walking, anyway. _It's just your overactive imagination_, she told herself sternly, and the howling ceased just as she calmed down. She thought she heard footsteps from behind. Sarah swiveled around to face her tail, but nobody was there. _It's just your imagination, Sarah_. "Hello?" she said aloud, then she hesitated. "You better show your face if you're there!" she hissed, holding her backpack at the ready.

"You're smart. I can see why Lady Gisela wanted you," came a cool drawl from behind her. She whisked around once again to face a tall boy with dark hair and a black hooded cloak with a single symbol embroidered on it- an eye. He pulled out a strange object- a crystal in the shape of a stick. "It's time for you to find out your destiny," he said slickly as he held the crystal up at an angle to refract the sun. All Sarah knew was that after the sunlight hit the crystal, light enfolded around her and she closed her eyes and wished this nightmare over.

Here and in the now, Sarah was in a small cave-like enclosure. It was barren and appeared to be abandoned. Sarah shifted her gaze around the entire space, noticing the same boy that kidnapped her holding her backpack. He tosses it on the ground roughly. "Hey!" she protested. "I have valuables in there!" _Like my phone and extra bubble gum_. He just disregarded her and leaned against the cave's walls in a pretty leisurely way for such an uncomfortable place. He took out a small square mirror and whispered something unintelligible into it. "She's awake," he said. To whom, Sarah had absolutely no idea.

A tall woman in heels stepped into the room- if you can even call it a room, Sarah thought. She also wore the same cloak with the same weird logo. _ I am going crazy. I must be insane. What kind of dream is this?_ Sarah told herself. "What do you want?" Sarah said with a long sigh. She tried to subtly wiggle out of the ropes, but they were too tightly bound. She noticed red welts on her wrists from rope burn.

The woman's face transformed into a simper as she walked over to Sarah, her demeanor cold and wintry. "I am Lady Gisela. Welcome to the Neverseen."

Sarah glared at the strange woman- Lady Gisela, she was called- as she untied Sarah's ropes. _Wait. Why'd she undo my ropes?_ pondered Sarah. "Alvar. Good job," Lady Gisela says as she took an appraising look at Sarah. "Yes. She is Karcey, no doubt about it." _Karcey_? _What?_

"My name is Sarah," she said coolly.

Lady Gisela's face revealed no emotions. Put simply, it looked as hard as steel. Uncrackable. "Perhaps." _What does she mean by that? My name is Sarah. Always has been, always will be, _Sarah thought to herself. Lady Gisela gestured to a small, partially caved in entrance.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Sarah griped, glaring daggers at Lady Gisela.

Lady Gisela did that snide simper of hers again. "We'll see. I don't think you want to stay in here, though."

"I'd prefer to stay here over any place you want me to go," Sarah said testily.

_Though this cave does look dank and threatening… No. Wherever these strangers want to bring me, it's probably bad. I shouldn't cooperate. But then again, what chances of escape do you have in an enclosed cave? Slim to none. The chances could be better somewhere else... But there's always a risk…_

"I can see you're starting to take in consideration the consequences of staying here," Lady Gisela says.

"Fine. I'll follow you. Wherever that tiny tunnel leads, it better be more decent than this cave," Sarah reluctantly yielded.

Sarah carefully crawled out of the tunnel and saw gray walls surrounding her from every angle. No sunlight reached inside. Instead, there were merely several lamps lit on the walls. Sarah blinked. _It's another cave. Great. Except in this one there are apparently some bunk beds crammed in,_ she thought bitterly. _Not much difference, to be honest_.

Rotten shavings of what was probably left over from food are strewn all over the floor. What a nice welcome.

But then again, who would expect five-star luxury accommodations from their kidnappers? Not Sarah. She let her shoulders slump down as she tried to guess the chances of escaping from here. Probably just the same as the other cave. "What is the Neverseen?" Sarah asked, inwardly gasping when she noticed some jagged-looking throwing stars and some frazzled ropes hung up on the walls. And she also observed that one of the bunks had some weird dark and shadowy substance on it.

"You'll find out," Alvar promised Sarah as he disdainfully glanced down at the moldy food leftovers scattered throughout the room.

Lady Gisela glared at Alvar with a look of disgust etched in every line of her face. "Make sure she doesn't escape."

Alvar gave the slightest nod to indicate that he heard, although he did it deliberately. "So, Karcey, this is the Neverseen." His voice was slick and cool, but Sarah thought she heard a hint of regret laced through his words. _Again, KARCEY? My name is Sarah. Seriously!_

Lady Gisela exited the room with her hand slipped into her pocket. Sarah thought she saw a faint shimmery glow coming from it. It looked like a crystal. Like the one Alvar had. But what do they do? Sarah noticed Alvar was jotting something down on some paper, so she snuck to the tunnel and saw Lady Gisela pushing through some dirt. Like, literally crawling through what should be solid walls. Sarah did the same and came out into some small clearing. Her chance at escape! All she had to do was wait until she went and got far off and then Sarah could get away! Sarah saw her pull a crystal out of her pocket- her theory was correct! She held it up at a specific slant- just like Alvar did- and the sun caught the crystal's refraction. A second later, right when Sarah blinked, Lady Gisela was gone. She just… vanished.

It was her chance at getting away! But, wait, where was she, anyway? _Shouldn't I get one of those light stick thingies to transport myself far? If I just run, I won't get far. No, I have to get one off Alvar. It's the only way._


	3. Chapter 2

*Chapter Two*

SARAH SNUCK BACK into the quarters room. Alvar, luckily, was still noting things on his paper. Sarah wondered what was so important to write that you wouldn't keep an eye on the prisoner.

He didn't even notice that Sarah was gone! What luck! But she probably shouldn't celebrate right now because she still had to get Alvar's crystal.

_What should I do? _

Sarah chewed on a strand of her luscious locks as she pondered a way to escape. Closing her eyes, she could remember that morning, when her mother had advised a thin jacket for the slight chill in the air. She fondly tugged on the edge of her plaid jacket. How she missed her family. Sarah shook her head. Now she was all on her own. There wasn't time to reminisce. She had to get to work on escaping.

She looked at Alvar. He was so engrossed in writing that he didn't even notice Sarah. She bit her lip nervously. Should she do this? What if he saw her? What lengths would a kidnapper go to? Sarah didn't know, but she knew she just might find out if she wasn't careful enough.

Sarah took an observant scan of the small room. The three bunk beds, placed side by side with only about a foot's distance between them, several rugs arranged on the rocky ground, ropes and nets on the other side… Finally, she found something useful. She noticed her backpack was stuffed underneath a rug on the other side of the room as she was hesitating.

She'd figured it was left back in the other cave!

Glancing worriedly back at Alvar, she decided she'd have a look and see if the "Neverseen," whatever that was, had confiscated her personal belongings.

Tiptoeing as quietly as she could, Sarah yanked her backpack out from under the rug. She hugged it to her chest and opened the flap. Inside was her phone, lip gloss, bubble gum, and a special sound machine she stole from her little brother Gary, just for kicks.

_Sound machine, huh?_ thought Sarah. Maybe she could use it to her advantage. If she could scare Alvar just enough to jump up a bit, if his crystal was in his pocket, it'd fall out! _Perfect_. Sarah decided on the loudest noise possible.

She crept up behind Alvar and got ready to kick the crystal under the bunk. She pressed the button and the noise was imminent. Sarah heard Alvar gasp in surprise and leap up to his feet. He did, indeed, drop something on the floor. She noticed a small crystal strung on some flexible coil. She leaned under the bed and pulled it in the darkness.

Alvar, however, did notice Sarah now. "Karcey, what are you doing?" he asked her sharply as she got up from under the bed. Sarah broke into a cold sweat, but she tried to keep her wits. _Calm down, Sarah_. She scowled at Alvar.

"Do I have to explain what I'm doing to _you_?" Sarah snapped.

"Yes, in fact, you do!" Alvar snapped back. "What was that noise, anyways?"

Sarah just sighed heavily and squeaked out, "I'm kind of hungry and I think I dropped my granola bar in the other cave. I was just scrounging around for food."

Alvar seemed to swallow the bait. "I'll get it. But you better stay here. Or…" his voice trailed off. He smiled grimly as he grabbed one of the ropes from the walls. He coiled it around Sarah's arms and legs, binding it tight. He practically sped into the tunnel. Sarah shook her head with a light smile on her cheeks.

"Wow. Is the food really that bad here?" Sarah joked to herself as she smiled again and rolled herself over to the bunk where Alvar had dropped the crystal.

But her smile soon faded as her thoughts drifted into the reality again. She knew she had to get out of the ropes. And fast. Before Alvar came back and realized it was all a ruse.

Panic was swarming her senses as she worried how she'd get out of the ropes. She didn't think this thing through.

Sarah felt a sharp sensation overflow her as her panic faded. It was fiery, yet soothing. It told her not to worry, so she didn't. Sarah let her instincts take over and she drew fire from her body heat, the flames making their way through her skin and finally, they danced across the rope, burning it to ashes. "Whoa," she whispered to herself. She grabbed the crystal and made a beeline for the tunnel, pushing through the dirt and finding herself in the same clearing as before.

She heard footsteps from the tunnel so she knew she had to hurry. Her heartrate sped up as she wondered_, How does it work again?_ Then she remembered. Sarah held the crystal up to the sky and light filled every line of her vision.

When she opened them again, she was in a breathtaking place. There were tall, luminous gates lining a castlelike mansion. Several girls and boys ran through the courtyard. Stately trees were aligned alongside multiple pathways. It was extremely grandiose, but Sarah didn't have time to take it all in, for she feared Alvar would soon discover she was gone- along with his crystal!

Acting fast, Sarah decided she had to see if the residents of this stunning home would let her in. Her eyes wide with terror, and her hands wrapped around herself to stop her hyperventilation, Sarah took one look at the cheerful, happy-go-lucky people chasing themselves around the courtyard and knew what she had to do. "Help!" she shrieked.


	4. Chapter 3

*Chapter Three*

"HELP!" SARAH YELLED. A few teens ran over to the gate, bemused when they saw Sarah.

"Hang on, I'll open the gates," said a dark haired boy that reminded Sarah of Alvar. Soon the gates clicked open and Sarah collapsed on the fresh grass, out of breath.

"Are you okay?" the voices blurred together. Sarah tried to nod, but she blacked out.

Soft teal-blue eyes found Sarah's. She was in an office with pretty aquarium tank floors and walls. "Are you okay?" It was a man with dark hair and fancy clothing. He reminded Sarah of royalty.

"I-I guess," Sarah gasped for breath. She was still trembling from the encounter with the kidnappers.

"I'm Alden," the man introduced, obviously waiting for Sarah to also announce her name.

"Um, I'm Sarah. I think?" she said with a wobbly smile plastered on her face.

"You think?" Alden asked, frowning. There was a pound at the door to the office.

"Hey! Let us in!" a male voice sounded.

"Please, Alden," came a female voice this time.

Alden sighed. "Fine. Come in." He opened the door and let in four wild-eyed teenagers. "See if you can figure out who this girl is. And what she's saying," he added with a puzzled expression.

Thus, the group arrived. A girl with blonde hair and kind brown eyes. A boy with artfully mussed dirty-blonde hair and ice-blue eyes. Another girl with an elaborately designed outfit and long brown hair. And, finally, a boy with dark hair and teal blue eyes. The one that reminded Sarah of Alvar.

Just as Alden did, somehow.

"Sarah, this is Sophie," Alden indicated to the blonde girl, "Keefe," he said with a sigh, pointing to the boy with the smirk and carefully mussed hair. "Biana, my daughter" he nodded to the girl with the fancy purple tunic and leggings. "and Fitz, my son." The teal-eyed boy.

Sarah just nodded, biting her lip. Would they believe her. She glanced around, paranoid. "Are they coming?" she whispered.

"Who?" questioned Sophie.

"_Them_," stammered Sarah, her bottom lip trembling as she tugged at her pink curls.

"Who is 'them?'" Sophie asked gently. "Whoever it is, you can tell us." But she did glance at Alden from across the office and add quietly, "Be ready to call Elwin if necessary."  
Alden caught it and nodded.

"Look who's talking," teased Keefe.

Sophie rolled her eyes, but turned back, her focus again on Sarah. "Well?"

'I don't know," said Sarah doubtfully. "You'd think I'm crazy."

"Well, your emotions are off the charts, and I'm standing across the room," Keefe commented.

Alden's eyebrows beaded together at Keefe's words. "Interesting," he whispered.

"Trust me," Sophie said with a sigh. "I don't believe I'd think anything crazy anymore."

Sarah shrugged. "Okay. Well, there's, um, Alvar, and Lady Gisela. I'm worried they might be chasing after me. There might be more, though. They called themselves the Neverseen, I think. I'm not sure."

Keefe stared at the wall, his fists clenched so tightly that they were pale white.

"Alvar!" Fitz muttered something incoherent underneath his breath, but from what Sarah heard, the words he said probably could have frozen fire.

Fire.

Sarah remembered it well. Her frustration leaked out of her in the form of fire. Hot, blazing, fiery fire. Fire rained down all over the papers on the desk, all over the wood.

"Again?" she said in a small voice.

Alden was speechless and frozen stiff for a moment before he remembered to run and get an extinguisher. Moments later, he returned. "I have the quicksnuff!" he shouted, tossing a bucketful over the blazes.

"I'm sorry. I totally lost control there," Sarah said, staring down at the floor. "Only weird things have been happening since this afternoon."

* * *

Sarah spread out her arms as she simultaneously thought.

Alden had asked earlier what exactly had happened with the Neverseen. He said it was for documenting reasons, although that just made Sarah even more jittery.  
"I think Lady Gisela wanted to recruit me for this Neverseen group," Sarah confessed after she had elucidated the kidnapping. Her façade took on a puzzled look as she added, "And the strangest thing was, well, I forgot to mention she didn't call me by my actual name. She called me Karcey."

Alden sighed. "On top of Project Moonlark and the Lodestar Initiative, now there's this? Will this be a Plan Karcey?" he muttered under his breath.

Sarah cringed.

Alden blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry, Sarah. I did not mean it that way. I'm glad this time one of the Neverseen's secrets has not eluded us. We're glad you came to us," he added spontaneously. He sighed again. "There are too many problems to deal with."

"I totally get the feeling," Sophie chimed in.

"Yeah, I think we all feel like that," Keefe added with a surreptitious smirk. His special trademark that Sarah had come to recognize.

Sarah had almost forgot the other teens were also in the room. She just sighed and twisted a loose strand of her pink-tinted hair, biting at the edges. The coarse hairs felt strange between her teeth, but she liked the sensation. It calmed her.

"Stop," Sophie said with a grin.

"What?" Sarah asked absentmindedly, tugging at her hair.

"You're biting your hair!" Sophie exclaimed, smiling reassuringly. "I pull my eyelashes out all the time. I've yet to see a bad habit with these perfect elves." She glanced back at her friends, sighing. All of them had their rapturous attention on Sarah. As she sighed, Sophie reached her fingers towards her eye.

Sarah smiled. Sophie made her feel as if they've known each other for ages. Instead, in reality, they only actually met each other forty-five minutes ago.

"The Collective will want to hear your gripping tale," Alden told Sarah.

"The Collective?" Sarah inquired, her palms sweating like crazy. She wiped them on her shirt.

"You'll see," Alden replied tersely.

* * *

Sarah stood in front of a group of very peculiar people- no, they were elves.  
Alden had clarified that Sarah was indeed an elf, just like them. He had explained to Sarah that she was just like Sophie. They thought she might have been, somehow, the Neverseen's version of Project Moonlark. They were always one step ahead. Alden stipulated that the idea was very possible, considering how advanced they were.

_Elves_.

The word sounded foreign on Sarah's tongue.

_Elves_.

Sarah studied each elf carefully, hoping to make sense of their disguises.

They were each different. One of them, apparently the leader, was wrinkly and appearing to be rather aged. It didn't make sense to Sarah at first, because she had learned that elves had almost indefinite lifespans, and they kept their surreal youth appearance about them forever. They didn't physically age. It seemed impossible to Sarah, but it was also fascinating.

The leader was Mr. Forkle, as Sophie explained. He actually consumed special berries called 'ruckleberries,' in order to maintain his aged façade.

_What a weird name_, thought Sarah as she scanned the other elves.

They were all a part of some secret organization called the Black Swan. Unfortunately, Sophie couldn't expand on anything more than that. She said Sarah could only learn more about the Black Swan if she swore fealty.

There was Squall. She was encased in ice, and had a special ability known as a Froster.

Also, there was Granite, who was, yep, covered head to toe in granite; Blur was a Phaser and so he could break himself down into bits to pass through walls. He just stopped himself mid-transformation to obtain the slightly smudgy figure.

Then the last member was Wraith. He was a Vanisher. He was invisible except for his clothes, which floated midair. He made his body invisible but his clothes remained visible.

Mr. Forkle fixated his gaze directly on Sarah. "Begin."


	5. Chapter 4

*Chapter Four*

SARAH BIT HER LIP AND TREMBLED SLIGHTLY. Everything was a nightmare ever since the Neverseen had kidnapped her. This was a new and confusing world, and she just wasn't used to it.

But she was an elf now.

Whatever past secrets she had, well, maybe they'd unfold themselves later. Right now, she had to keep her emphasis on the present. There was no use in ruminating about the past.

And she could be an asset to the Black Swan if they'd trust her. So she needed to show them she could be. Sarah took a deep breath and plunged into the traumatic adventure she'd had once more. Mr. Forkle nodded when she'd finished. The entire time he'd been scrawling down notes. Now he looked up at her, his ancient eyes penetrating. "You've been through an awful ordeal," he nodded. Sighing. He shook his head. "I remember a long time ago when there was great peace…" His eyes went glassy as he reminisced. Sarah cleared her throat, not wishing to be impertinent, but trying to move the discussion along. "Right. Right. Sorry, I got lost in thought," Mr. Forkle said, his eyebrows scrunched up as he zoomed back to the present. He stared at Sarah for a long time, scrutinizing her very studiously. "You're a lot like Sophie," he nodded. "She's always impatient." He sighed and muttered something that sounded a lot like, "You kids." He narrowed his eyes. "But we cannot deny the possibility that you are an unwitting accomplice to the Neverseen. Have you checked for a tracker?" Sarah gasped.

"No, I- OH! I led them right to you! How could I have been so… UGH!"

Alden walked up to Sarah. He had been in the shadows of the room, making sure the Collective had plenty of space. But he was ready in case of any type of question that needed his verification. They were in Atlantis, in an undisclosed location, not a Black Swan hideout, though Sarah worried that it might be an important meeting place. After all, few knew about it. "There's no reason to worry. I already did," Alden nodded. "Just the basic scan." Mr. Forkle nodded approvingly.

Sarah let out a long sigh of relief. But Alden placed a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Elves' minds can shatter if they let guilt seep into their minds." His voice broke up slightly. "It almost happened to me." Then it regained a firm tone. "Don't let it happen. Push away any of the slightest feelings of guilt. Got it?"

Sarah nodded.

"You're pretty strong, considering you've been raised by humans. A lot like Sophie," Alden remarked.

"Ahem." The voice came from the disembodied Wraith. "Shall we get back to the discussion?"  
"Of course," Alden nodded. "Please don't hesitate to call on me. I'd be more than inclined to help if you require any more facts, or opinions." He stepped back into the shadows.

After a loooooooong questioning about every single detail that happened during her kidnapping, Sarah was excused. "Uh, bye," she said.

"I'm sure we will see you again," Mr. Forkle said. "Until then, however, you will stay in one of our proxies' residence. Please take this crystal to leap there. Oh- and take this nexus. Your concentration power is very strong, similarly to Sophie's…I do so wonder if being raised by humans makes a difference in that aspect…" Mr. Forkle strapped a small wristband onto Sarah's wrist. "It helps you not lose your focus while leaping. That way, you don't fade." Sarah just nodded, even though she had almost no idea what Mr. Forkle was ranting on about. "Just hold the crystal up to the light, and you know the rest."

Sarah lifted the crystal in which was strung on a cord. "Like Alvar's," she mused.

"It's a home crystal," Mr. Forkle explained. Then his eyebrows scrunched up together. "I wonder why he kept it, though."

Sarah shrugged. "Um, bye." She held the crystal up to the sunlight once they got back up on dry land, (there was an incredibly convoluted way to get down to Atlantis- which was sunk to make the humans believe that it didn't exist anymore. Actually, a lot of humans figured it was just a myth. Including Sarah, before she discovered she was an elf.) and she stepped into the light.

When Sarah opened her eyes, she was in front of an enormous estate. It held a dark premonition, with its shadowy towers and almost no windows. It didn't help that it was late evening; the faint outline of the moon up in the clouds beamed down on some of the towers. The view, as a result, was spooky.

She noticed Keefe was walking outside of it. "Keefe! What are you doing here?" Sarah asked, puzzled.  
Keefe smirked. "I _live_ here. Shouldn't I ask _you_ what you're doing here?"

"Oh." Sarah's face heated up. "Well, Forkle told me I was going to stay here for a while until they figure out what to do with me."  
"I'm sure it's not that bad," Keefe reasoned.

Sarah shrugged. "It basically is." She changed the subject. "They said one of their proxies lives here."  
"My dad swore fealty a while ago," Keefe explained, though his face was twisted into a surly smile.

Sarah was confused. Wasn't that good?

Then a tall figure with a foreboding cloak walked up to them. "My father," Keefe whispered.

"Welcome to Candleshade," Keefe's father said.

Sarah followed Keefe through the twisty and dark hallways of Candleshade. "Not very homey, is it?" Keefe remarked quietly as they encountered another right turn.  
"Not particularly," acknowledged Sarah. "But hey," she added with a real smile, "at least you have your own haunted house!"

"Uh, what's that?" Keefe asked, mystified.

"Oh, never mind. I probably should just avoid mentioning human things," muttered Sarah. Then she regained her glowing smile. "Tell me about elf stuff."

"Like what?" enquired Keefe as they turned left, passing a closet door. "Oh, and might I suggest you don't go in that closet," advised Keefe, pointing to the closet they had just passed.

"Why not?" Sarah asked.

"I bet you don't like gulons, right?" He sniggered.

"What's that?" Sarah felt flustered that she hardly knew anything about the elvin world.

"A _special_ kind of creature," smirked Keefe.

"Uh-oh. You're smirking. I'm guessing it isn't good," Sarah stated.

"Nope!" Keefe said cheerfully as they stepped into a massive bedroom, complete with dark tapestries and a large, square bed. "This is your room! My room is three left turns, one right turn, and then another three left turns away!" He smiled as he closed the door behind him.

Sarah stared openmouthed at the door. This place was enormous! How was she going to find her way around? She'd just have to wing it and hope she didn't get lost.

She sighed and flopped on her bed. "Ugh," she said. "This is officially the world's most uncomfortable bed." She took a look at the shadowy room. "And room, too." As she sat upright again to rearrange her pillow, which unfortunately felt like a mini boulder, she found a small slip of paper. It said:

_Don't get lost!_

_-K _

Taped with some sort of elvin adhesive on the note was a small map. On the very end, it said in bright, bold letters: YOU ARE HERE.

"Great going, Keefe," Sarah said with a smile, but then it vanished, replaced with apprehension. "What if he set this up as a prank to get me lost?" She decided she'd have to worry about that tomorrow. She closed her eyes and dreamt of all the beautiful elvin places she'd visit.


	6. Chapter 5

*Chapter Five*

SARAH GAVE A GRIM SMILE as she sat down on the bench. That morning, she had just barely been able to make her way through Candleshade. She avowed to Keefe that the place made her feel as though someone was always behind her, ready to leap out and spook her.

She had no idea why she confided in him, but something in Keefe just made it easy for Sarah to trust him. Plus, the map was genuine. It hadn't been a prank. Keefe really did mean to help her. She supposed he had good intentions, then.

Right now Keefe was showing her around Foxfire, the prestigious academy that all of nobility attended. "Once we get everything figured out, Foxfire is the place you'll go to school for," he had said.

This was Keefe's special ditching spot, for whenever he decided on skipping class or study hall. "Sophie is the only other person who knows about it," he said, grinning.

"I'm honored," Sarah snarked. "But, mostly bored."

Keefe raised his eyebrows. "Wanna bring down the rain?"

"It's already thundering," grinned Sarah. Keefe high-fived her.

"Time for you to get a crash course in pranking. From only the best, of course," Keefe bragged.  
What Keefe didn't know was that what he said wasn't true. "Uhh, I already know how. I did it, like, all the time back at school in San Diego."

"San Diego? Wasn't that where Sophie lived when she was raised by humans?" Keefe mused to himself. But he grinned. "Good thing you already know how, then. I don't have to waste time explaining stuff to you. We can just jump right into it!"

The two worked silently and rigged a gulon trap. Obviously there weren't gulons in the Forbidden Cities, so Sarah was new to that aspect of pranking, although she kept her pride. But Keefe quickly helped her with that bit and she soon had the ropes.

Presently an unsuspecting student launched the trap. "Who's that?" Sarah asked as the student, a boy with jagged, silver-toned bangs scowled at the gulon that had just latched itself on his forehead. A very nauseous smell soon filled the room.

"Let's go!" Keefe said, ignoring her question. Sarah shrugged. _He'll tell me later_, she thought.

But as they walked to a class together, Sarah thought she heard Keefe mutter cheerfully under his breath, "Bangs Boy didn't see it coming!"

Who was Bangs Boy? Sarah pondered as Keefe walked her to the cafeteria. Some elf called Lady Alexine had confronted them about Sarah, but Keefe kept his cool. He made up some elaborate excuse stating Magnate Leto allowed her to see the school, since she was enrolling pretty soon. Lady Alexine had been suspicious, especially since Sarah looked well above the starting age. She was sixteen, and usually Foxfire students began at age eleven. So it looked pretty disbelieving, but she let it go. Sarah had been worried that perhaps she'd talk to Magnate Leto, but Keefe acted as if he wanted her to.

"Um, but won't that blow our cover?" Sarah had asked.

Keefe had winked. "Just trust me."

Now she was approaching a long table with Biana, Fitz, Sophie, some young boy with strawberry-blonde hair and periwinkle eyes, a mystically beautiful girl with silver tips to her soft bangs. She had grey eyes that seemed to shimmer. And then next to her sat none other than… Bangs Boy!

Keefe took a seat the farthest possible from Bangs Boy and the ethereal girl, instead choosing a seat beside Fitz, setting his tray down with a loud _thud_!

Bangs Boy scowled at Keefe. "Maybe he didn't do it, Tam," came the girl's soothing voice, though she made it into a soft murmur that only Bangs Boy, and vaguely Sarah, could hear.

"I'm sure he did, Linh," countered this Tam guy.

They argued back-and-forth quietly and the rest of their friends pretended they didn't hear anything to give them privacy.

Sarah saw how well the group was getting along and faltered.

She wasn't their friend. She put on a sunny smile, waved, and started walking away to an empty table. But Sophie waved her right back, seeming to know what Sarah was experiencing.  
"Keefe, you shouldn't have brought me here," she said in a hushed whisper, afraid the other students in the cafeteria would overhear.

Keefe rolled his eyes. "Honestly! And here I thought you weren't afraid to bend a few rules, maybe snap them."

Sarah narrowed her eyes. "Of course I'm not afraid to break rules. But this is a huge one. I'm basically sneaking onto campus and attending without permission!"

"That's _exactly_ what you are doing, but it's _fine_!" Keefe argued.

Sarah's eyebrows contracted once again. "Oh, really? And you're not afraid of expulsion? Guess what? I was expelled from _seven_ schools until the one I was attending before my kidnapping. And it all happened from breaking a couple of so-called small rules!" Sarah's eyes widened in surprise at what she said. "Wow, I guess I am kind of a stick-in-the-mud." Her shoulders slumped. "Sorry, guys," she muttered.

Sophie smiled. "Don't be sorry. I broke so many rules, especially laws, that I lost track, but it's better to try and follow them unless it's utterly necessary to break them." She raised an eyebrow. "Keefe, for one, breaks rules for fun." Sarah could tell Sophie was dismayed by the number of expulsions she'd received by the slightly petrified expression on Sophie's face when she'd said that.

"Hey! It _is_ fun!" Keefe protested.

Sophie ignored him. "And anyways, kidnapping changes you a ton. Actually, discovering you're an elf can change you plenty as well. I changed a lot, too, after both ordeals."  
Sarah's eyes widened again. "Wow. You were kidnapped?"  
"Yup. Join the club," the strawberry-blonde boy said, a forced smile on his face. "Oh, and I'm Dex, by the way."

Sarah nodded. From what she'd heard so far, apparently Sophie and her friends faced near-death experiences on a daily basis.

Sophie shared the story with Sarah, and Dex reluctantly chimed in, too.

Sarah found herself smiling as she and her _friends_ ate lunch and talked together. But from the shadows, she thought she saw eyes, dark, treacherous eyes, spying on her as she sat comfortably and chatted animatedly. They were dark blue. The exact shade of blue that Sarah recognized as Alvar's.


	7. Chapter 6

*Chapter Six*

KEEFE WAS PRETTY ENTHUSIASTIC when Sarah begged him to show her the creepiest parts of Candleshade. Sarah was trying to get over what had happened yesterday. She managed to convince herself it was just a hallucination, although she did, rather abruptly, leave the table to "grab some more food." But she had woven through the crowds of students, making sure to never be alone.

Now she was trying to eliminate her fears by… Okay, fearing. It wasn't the best method, but for Sarah, getting spooked by something that was clearly real helped her get over nightmares and so-called hallucinations.

"Follow me," Keefe said, with an ardent smirk.

Sarah carefully followed Keefe through a series of long, spiraling hallways and… the vortinator. "Ergh… What's that?" Sarah asked when they came to it. It had railing around it, but Sarah was still more than a little scared to say in the least.

"The vortinator!" cheered Keefe.

Sarah felt as though she'd hurl. Finally, the endless swirling stopped, and, dazed, stepped out onto the fortieth floor.

"I hate that thing," Sarah complained as she still gasped for breath ten minutes later.

Keefe shook his head, sighing. "Okay, so this is the creepiest place you'll ever see in your life, much less just in Candleshade. Are you ready for it?" He focused on Sarah, his eyes serious.

Sarah bit her lip. "Yes. You've totally got my attention now."  
"Good," Keefe smirked as they approached the ominous door.

No going back now.

Sarah slowly walked into the room, her heart racing.

She was preparing herself for the fright of the century.

She blinked open her eyes.

Inside was Keefe's father. Wait, no. It was a statue of Keefe's father, and it was glowing! It was also pretty gigantic. And the eyes…

Sarah screamed, her caterwaul likely heard in the entire residency, through all the hundreds of floors.

"Yep," Keefe nodded. "I've had nightmares about it. It's carved out of lumenite."

Sarah covered her eyes and slowly stepped towards the door. As Keefe swung it shut, Sarah breathed heavily. "Oh, wow. I think that _was_ the creepiest thing I've ever seen."

Keefe just nodded as they turned in the hallway and bumped into none other than… Lord Cassius. Keefe's father frowned as they crashed into each other. Sarah dusted herself off as she managed to get up. "I am so sorry, Lord Cassius…"

Keefe's father scowled. "Do not let it happen again." Then he took one good look at Keefe and then one at Sarah and he whitened.

Sarah decided he probably wasn't the kind of person you asked if was okay. So she just mumbled another apology and raced back to the vortinator. She was not looking forward to another sickly ride in the terrifying vortinator, but what could she do? She did not want to live on the nth floor with… She shuddered… Lord Cassius's horrifying lumenite self-statue.

Keefe was there almost as fast as she was. "So I guess you know how good old Dad is now," he said as the vortinator sped into action.

Sarah was still trembling about the intimidating statue Keefe had shown her the previous day. And that onceover Lord Cassius had given her was eerie. And he paled after it. What did that mean?  
She tried not to agonize herself over it. After all, there were plenty of other things to think about.

She couldn't waste all her energy dawning on why Lord Cassius didn't like her. Instead, her mind spun to the incongruous pair of eyes hiding in the shadows of the cafeteria. Where it was all dark and cold.

She shuddered. _Don't think about that, either, Sarah_, she told herself rather firmly.

Though she did hesitantly glance at the dark corridor outside her room, and let out a sigh of sweet relief when she verified nobody was there.

Then she made a quick decision. She needed Sophie. She was the only one who would understand what Sarah was going through. She'd leap to her house. She had never been there before, but she had heard the name before when Keefe had yelled to the Leapmaster, which was something that could transport you anywhere. Like the crystals, but easier. Leapmasters, however, were not portable.

Sarah went to the top floor, yes, in the spinning vortinator, and found the Leapmaster. "Here we go," she murmured. She shouted loud-and-clear: "HAVENFIELD!"

* * *

Sarah was transported to a large and lush meadow with a large three-story house that actually looked more like a mini mansion. Animals grazed in the fields, and there was Sophie, standing next to a tall, blonde elf.

They were feeding some mythical creature. Sarah gasped. An alicorn! It was absolutely stunning, with its silver tipped horn and sparkling mane and tail. "Wow," she whispered.

Sophie seemed to finally notice Sarah was there. "Oh! Sarah, hi!" she called Sarah over. Sarah jogged over to her and stared at the alicorn.  
"It's majestic," she murmured. Even more so up close.

Sophie nodded. "This is Silveny. Silveny, this is Sarah."

Silveny the alicorn whinnied and returned Sarah's gaze. Its eyes were an indulgent shade of light brown.

Sarah reached over on impulse and touched Silveny's mane, stroking it gently. "You're very pretty, girl," Sarah said as she ran her fingers through the threads of Silveny's silver-toned mane.

Sarah smiled at the alicorn as Silveny nickered pleasantly.

"You're a natural," the blonde elf said, sounding surprised.

Sarah shrugged. "I guess I am."

"I'm Grady," the blonde elf told Sarah, nodding. "Sophie's told me about you." He sounded concerned now. "I'll let you two talk." He walked to the house, leaving Sophie and Sarah free to talk about whatever they wished.

"So… Not that you can't stop by just to hang, but… Is something wrong?" Sophie asked.

Sarah looked uneasy. "Kind of. Sophie, I felt-" She paused, appearing truly petrified as she glanced around the clearing. "I felt..."

"You felt what?" Sophie asked gently.

"I was anxious. I thought I saw someone watching me at lunch yesterday and I just… Okay, promise you won't think I'm crazy?"

Sophie smiled. "Of course I won't. Tell me."

"Okay. I thought… Alvar… was watching me. And I get these weird vibes when I see Fitz. Like, he and Alvar look pretty similar in some facial features."  
Sophie grimaced. "I guess I should've known we can't hide anything from you. Alvar is Fitz's brother."

* * *

Sarah gasped. "What?"

Sophie nodded. "I know. He betrayed us all." Her eyes took on a worried expression. "But, tell me. You thought he was stalking you?"  
"Yeah." Sarah was silent after her vague response.

Sophie put an assuring arm on Sarah's shoulder. "Most likely, you just hallucinated. Let go of it, and you'll be fine."  
"That's what I thought, too. But I KNOW I saw him!" Sarah said, sounding firm in her convictions.

Sophie bit her lip, sighing. "Okay. Take this." She reached into her pocket and drew out a square mirror. "This is an Imparter. To hail me, just say: Show me Sophie. Don't hesitate to call me. Even in the middle of the night, or whatever. Okay?"  
"Thanks, Sophie. You're the nicest person I've ever met." She sighed at that. Then Sarah inspected the Imparter and exclaimed, "Hey! That looks just like the thingy that Alvar used to get Lady Gisela!"

Sophie nodded. "It's basically an elvin phone. You can send messages, too."

"Okay. Thank you, Sophie." Sarah grimaced as she rummaged around in her pocket. "Oh! I'm so sorry… Can I please use your Leapmaster to get back to Candleshade? I forgot my crystal."  
"Of course!" Sophie beamed.

Sarah smiled and Sophie showed her to the Leapmaster. An elf with long, amber waves down her back welcomed Sarah with open arms. She introduced herself as Edaline, Sophie's adoptive mother, and offered a special treat- mallowmelt. It was a special elvin delicacy, and it tasted like paradise.

"OHHHH!" Sarah moaned when she sampled a piece. Sophie winked at her. "Thank you SO much. Mallowmelt is officially now my favorite food, snack, and dessert."

"Same with me," Sophie added.

"I'd better get going. That Cassius guy is overbearing, but ah well." As Sarah stepped into the Leapmaster, she thought she saw sympathy in Edaline's eyes. She stood there and meekly said, "Candleshade."

The light zapped her back to the gloomy place. She was sorry she had to leave the bright and happy Havenfield.

When she arrived, Keefe was there with a pale sheen to his usually smirking self. "Sarah, you've got to see this."


	8. Chapter 7

*Chapter Seven*

SCARED, BUT CURIOUS, Sarah followed a shaking Keefe up the vortinator AGAIN, and through tons of swirly hallways. Wow. Sarah was already getting lost. Why did Candleshade have to be designed exactly like a haunted maze?

Finally, Keefe stopped after countless twists and turns, and Sarah panted, out of breath. Keefe had practically ran the entire way!

Sarah glanced back at Keefe, who looked unfazed. She guessed he was used to running for his life, a thought she was not particularly comfortable with.

Keefe pointed to a rather ornamental double-door entrance just across from them.

Sarah's mouth fell into a perfect 'o.'

The sleek doors themselves were very intricately decorated, with carefully-chiseled swirls and subtle patterns. But it was what was through those doors that made Sarah truly gawk.

There were countless lines of old portraits on the corky-brown walls.

"They're family portraits, drawn over the generations," Keefe explained.

Sarah examined a few with her jaw slack. They were extremely well-drawn. "I guess this is where you got your artistic ability," Sarah commented as Keefe walked over to the end of the wall.

She followed him over to four portraits. Two were covered with cloth, and the other two were recognizable as Lord Cassius and Keefe.

"So, um, why are you so down?" Sarah asked him, her light blue eyes soft and worried.

Keefe sighed. "Not 'down.' I guess I'm just confused as to why this is here." He took off one of the cloths and revealed a portrait of Lady Gisela. "Oh, wait, not that one. I totally understand where Dad was going with that."

Sarah crunched her eyebrows together. "What do you mean? Is that your mom?"  
"Yep." Keefe's voice was blatantly frustrated. He kicked the walls, his iron gaze on his mother's portrait.

Sarah frowned. Her eyes looked down at the floor. Her kidnapper was Keefe's mom? Yeah, that explained a lot, actually.

"But anyways, I meant this one." Keefe stuffed the cloth back onto Lady Gisela's traitorous portrait and revealed the other one.

It was a young child, no older than three. A girl. She had dirty-blonde hair the same shade as Keefe's, and ice-blue eyes with the identical look of amusement as Keefe had. Somehow, she looked familiar.

Signed on the bottom in elegant handwriting said: Karcey Sencen.

* * *

Sarah gasped.

Keefe nodded. "I think it's you. I don't know why I didn't ever notice it, but you kind of have the same eye color as me. And you dyed your hair, right?"

Sarah nodded. "I was rebelling against the school etiquette."

"What kinda school doesn't let you have pink hair?" Keefe pouted.

"Eh. They expelled me for that. The next school I went to allowed pink hair."

Their solemn focus immediately went back to the portrait. "And you just discovered this?" Sarah asked quietly.

Keefe nodded. "The doors were always locked. But yesterday, I saw Dad come in here. I never went in here. I guess I figured it was a second office or something. It looked boring. But then I saw his face. Dad looked super fidgety, and he just kept muttering, 'No, no. It can't be.' I was super curious, you know me, so I spied on him until I saw where he stashed his keys."  
"Where?" Sarah asked, in complete awe.

"Underneath his pillow!" Keefe laughed.

Sarah snickered. "Wow, I didn't know stony Cassius was a softie." She laughed at her corny joke.

"He isn't," Keefe put in.

Sarah shrugged. "It's still funny." She frowned. "But is that really me? I mean… it's kind of a long shot…"

"Yeah." Keefe was quiet. Then his gaze snapped up to Sarah again. "No, remember? My mom- or our mom?" He sighed. "She kept calling you 'Karcey.' Yeah, we thought she was pretty crazy when you told us, but what if she wanted to, I don't know, maybe trigger some memories?"  
"Mmm-hmm," Sarah nodded, lost in thought.

Keefe frowned. "I hate to encourage Fitzphie bonding, but I guess we'll need full Cognate power on this."  
"What?" Sarah asked, finally snapping out of her daze. Her full attention was now on Keefe.

"Cognates. You know?" Keefe sighed, rolling his eyes distastefully. "Never mind. Fitzy will be more than happy to explain to you what that means." He looked as if he wanted to say more, but was afraid of what Sarah would say.

Sarah shrugged. She could tell Keefe was disturbed by something, but she couldn't understand what. After all, she had only spent less than three days in the Forbidden Cities.

"To the Leapmaster!" Keefe announced, and they raced out of the room, ironically only to bump into Lord Cassius.

"Oh, hi…" Sarah didn't know what to say now that she'd seen the portrait.

Lord Cassius frowned in his usual, haughty way. "Hello… Sarah."

Keefe, however, was impetuous. He narrowed his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me I had a sister?"

Lord Cassius's normally steely expression paled to something unsure and insecure. "Whoever said you had one?"  
"Whatever!" Keefe exclaimed. "We saw the portraits!"

Lord Cassius significantly flinched at that. Keefe smirked at how twitchy his father was. "I... usually keep those doors locked. How ever did you get inside?"

Keefe smirked again, pleased to have such a large reaction. His eyes glittered with malice. "I stalked you."

Sarah rolled her eyes as Keefe exaggerated the truth. Like always. Well, in the few days she was in the Lost Cities and knew him, that was. "Keefe, you just followed him for a few minutes. That's not stalking."

"It can be," Keefe winked. Then his gaze hardened like stone onto his father. "Care to explain what's going on?" His voice transformed from his joking tone to a much, much, much more serious one.  
"No, because there is nothing to explain. At least, to you," Cassius shot back. He did not show any expression through his facial reaction.

_Can Keefe really be my brother_? thought Sarah as she watched Keefe ping-pong arguments with Lord Cassius.

Finally, she stepped in with a twinge of vexation. Why did girls always have to settle disputes? "Lord Cassius, please tell us. Am I a Sencen?"

Keefe's lips tightened as he awaited his father's answer. Sarah reassuringly squeezed her possible-brother's hand.

Then came a short, bleak response. "Yes."

* * *

Lord Cassius didn't bother to elaborate anything, instead he simply gave them the plainest, most basic answer they could ever hear. Just one word. That 'yes.' He turned his cold, unfathomable eyes to the walls. He didn't say anything more. "I believe you should go," he said emotionlessly. His eyes were bottomless pits. Sarah just pursed her lips in frustration.

Keefe, however, was a different story. Instead of being the droopy boy he normally was around his father, he was cool and direct. And confident, too.

"No," Keefe said quietly, narrowing his eyes. "We're not going anywhere until you give us the full explanation."

Lord Cassius ignored him and started walking at a brisk pace towards the vortinator.

Keefe grabbed his father's arm and closed his eyes. "You're feeling guilty. And angry… Huh. I actually feel some wallowing in there! I wonder if I should send in an application for your prize of First Emotions Ever Experienced." Sarah snickered slightly, but all amusement quickly faded. Keefe was reading his father's emotions to hopefully turn him around into explaining things. Since he was an Empath, like his father, actually, Keefe could feel what others felt. Sometimes it could be overwhelming. Sarah had heard that Sophie's emotions were so strong Keefe could feel them from across the room.

Lord Cassius grumbled something about his insolent son, but he stared endlessly at Sarah. "Yes, Karcey is your sister, Keefe. I suppose I had to tell you." He sighed. "If that's all you need, then please leave me be."

Sarah shrugged and started to head to the vortinator, trying to put on a show of indifference, but Keefe was very insistent. Very, very insistent.

"Tell us everything!" Keefe said quietly. "Everything."

"When the time is right, I will tell you!" Lord Cassius roared. "Now leave!" His angry voice echoed through the empty hallways of Candleshade. _Yep_, Sarah thought. _Definitely like a haunted maze_.

Keefe began to say something again, but Sarah tugged at his wrist. "Come on, Keefe. It's pointless right now, but maybe we can force it out of him later." Her eyes were pleading. Then her voice adapted a much more teasing tone. "Besides, don't you want to see Sophie?"

Keefe sighed and realized his sister was right, although he had to wonder where she got the ideas about Sophie. Did he let too much out?

Then his mind went blank as his father's words enveloped around him. "_Your sister_…"

His sister. It was so strange to refer to Sarah, or Karcey, as that. His sister.

He had never had a sister before.  
He was always alone.

Now he wouldn't be.

Sarah held onto his hand and smiled at her brother, who was self-consciously mussing his hair, probably for Sophie, Sarah thought with a wide grin. They clambered into the Leapmaster and together the siblings light-leaped to Everglen, in the hopes of finding some answers.


	9. Chapter 8

*Chapter Eight*

SARAH AND KEEFE ARRIVED at Everglen moments later. They were brought in by Biana. "Is everything okay?" Biana asked, noticing their faces.

"Not really," admitted Sarah, sighing. "Are Sophie and Fitz here? We need their Cognate powers."

Keefe face-palmed himself. Clearly he wouldn't have said it that way. Sarah smirked.

Biana still looked confused, but she led them into the dining room. Sophie and Fitz were staring into each other's' eyes. "Cognate stuff," Keefe explained to Sarah.  
"Ooookay…" Sarah said, waving a hand in front of them, breaking them apart.

Sophie jumped in her seat, and Fitz flinched.

"They need your Cognate powers," Biana informed the two.

Keefe hit his forehead again. "Seriously?"  
Biana ignored him. "I don't know what it's about, but they just came."

"What is it?" Fitz asked.

"We think Sarah might have some hidden memories," Keefe explained grimly. "from our mom."

* * *

Sophie, Fitz, and Biana all were staring at Keefe and Sarah, trying to notice the resemblance. "Wow, I didn't realize you guys had the same shade of eye color," Sophie whispered.

"Freaky," Fitz nodded.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "We just found out."

Sophie's mouth was completely slack. "How?" she sputtered.

"Easy, Foster," Keefe said, grabbing Sophie's hand, ripping off the glove, and squeezing her hand. It seemed to calm her, somehow, because she was breathing steadily a minute afterward. Keefe gently slid the glove back on and turned to Fitz. "So, can you guys see if our mom hid anything?"

"We can try," Fitz bit his lip.

Sophie nodded. She put her hand on Fitz's and Sarah saw some sort of ring underneath the gloves that linked with Fitz's matching one.

They closed their eyes and reached for Sarah's temples with their free hands.

* * *

Nothing happened for a few minutes, but now Sarah felt a tingle in the back of her brain. An irritating tingle that seemed to not only tickle, but scratch her.

Sarah gasped as a fluid memory began to solidify.

It was hazy, but she thought she could vaguely make out Lady Gisela standing in front of her.

Beside her stood a boy with a Neverseen cloak.

"_Ruy_," Sarah heard a whisper from Sophie.

Lady Gisela's lips were spread into a thin smile. "Oh, Karcey. You will do much for the Neverseen…" Her voice distorted slightly, but she continued, "And I have no doubt you will carry the Lodestar Initiative to another level, unlike my pathetic son…" Her voice crinkled, as if it was merely paper. Then the entire memory faded, leaving Sarah to collapse on the ground.

Cries of, "Are you okay?"  
"Sarah, say something!"  
"It's okay, Sarah," filled the room.  
But Sarah was too weak to get up.

Sarah blinked her eyes and blinding light filled her vision. Keefe was hugging her. Wait, the distant Keefe was _hugging_ her?  
"You're awake!" Sophie cried.

"Y-yeah," Sarah nodded.

Keefe pulled away, looking slightly embarrassed as he said, "Are you okay, Sarah?"

"I-I-I think so," she stammered. Her body trembled.

"The Lodestar Initiative," Sophie whispered to herself.

"What?" Keefe's head snapped around to face Sophie, though he still held Sarah's hand tightly.

So tightly Sarah's was turning white.

"Uh, oww, Keefe?" Sarah bit her lip. Keefe was squeezing _very_ tight.

"Oh, uh, sorry," he said, letting go. Sarah shook her head, sighing as she rubbed her palm.

"Please explain _everything_ you know about Sarah, Keefe," Sophie ordered, though her voice shook.

Keefe obliged, telling Sophie of how Lord Cassius came to confess to them, and how they had the theory about a hidden memory.

Sophie nodded at each pause, ruminating. Finally, what felt like hours later, she said, "I think Sarah was supposed to be the original Lodestar Initiative."


	10. Chapter 9

*Chapter Nine*

EVERYONE IN THE ROOM GASPED. Sarah had no idea why. "Uh, sorry, what?" she said. "What are you freaking out about?"

Sophie tugged an eyelash out; a bad sign. "Well... Keefe, you explain!"

Keefe just twisted his fingers and muttered, "Yeah, blame it on the guy." He turned to Sophie. "Could _you_ explain? I kinda don't feel in the mood."

Sophie sighed.

Biana absentmindedly twirled her brown hair.

Fitz rubbed his chin.

Sarah just glared. _Why is everyone acting so weird?_ she thought.

"Fine!" Sophie snapped. "I'll explain. Sarah. The Lodestar Initiative is some complicated plan the Neverseen have. It has something to do with Keefe. We don't know the full details yet."

Sarah waited. Nobody elaborated.

"Seriously?" she burst out. "I haven't the faintest idea of what the Lodestar Initiative thingy is, and I'm _trying _to be patient here. But nobody explains anything to me in a way that makes sense!"

She felt like she was a different species.

Keefe turned to Sarah. "Basically, my mom has this freaky plan for me, and she made all these fancy memory washes and stuff for the 'right moment.'" He quoted with his fingers.

Sarah shrugged. "Okay. I kinda get it now. So you guys think that our mom originally planned for me to be the Lodestar Initiative, but as a last-minute resort she had to use Keefe, because somehow I was taken to the Forbidden Cities?"

Keefe pretended to look hurt. "Hey!"

Sarah grinned.

Sophie nodded. "From the looks of your memory, that's a possibility. Another one is that she's still carrying out her plan with you, but it's interconnected with Keefe. So both you and Keefe could be the Lodestar Initiative. We're just spitballing here, of course, but the ideas could be true."

Keefe glanced at Sophie. "Could I see the memory?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Keefe..." Sophie warned, her eyes flickering over him, likely reliving some sort of memory.

"Yeah," Fitz jumped in. "You kinda overreact whenever you find out about some new thing your mom does."

_Of course he would_, figured Sarah. _I'm freaking out right now and I just found out that one of my kidnappers is my own mother!_

Keefe shrugged. "Guilty. But I _need _to see the memory. Maybe I could help? I am Sarah's brother, after all!" His ice-blue eyes were pleading.

Sarah scowled. _Why is everyone acting like seeing my thoughts is something so natural? Uh, some are kinda private! "_Isn't the memory mine?" Sarah finally blurted out, defiantly. "Everyone's acting like it's some public thing, my mind. But some of my thoughts are private. I don't want everyone delving into my mind and seeing everything!" she shuddered.

When she lived with the humans, reading minds was something of science fiction. Now, it was reality.

Everyone glanced at Sarah when she spoke. "Technically, yes, your thoughts are private. There are Telepathy etiquettes to stop us from reading thoughts without permission. We were so caught up in finding that memory, I guess we forgot we needed your permission. So. Permission to enter?" Sophie asked.

Sarah shrugged. When she put it like that... "Okay. Sure."

Sophie reached for Sarah's temples. She closed her eyes and concentrated, and a moment later she pulled away. "Keefe, are you sure you want to see it?" whispered Sophie.

Keefe gave a small nod.

"Okay." Sophie touched Keefe's temples and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Um, what's she doing?" Sarah asked, feeling oblivious.

"She's transmitting the memory into Keefe's mind. The one that she saw from yours," Fitz explained.

"Oh," Sarah said, feeling dumber by the minute. All these abilities... they were confusing. She was just a Pyrokinetic. All she did was call the flames. There was nothing confusing about that.

Soon, Sophie took her fingers off Keefe's temples and Keefe cringed. "Wow. That's a weird memory," he commented.

It flashed back into Sarah's mind:

_Lady Gisela's lips were spread into a thin smile. "Oh, Karcey. You will do much for the Neverseen…" _

_Her voice distorted slightly, but she continued, "And I have no doubt you will carry the Lodestar Initiative to another level, unlike my pathetic son…" _

_Her voice crinkled, as if it was merely paper. _

Then the entire memory faded. It hardly gave Sarah any clues at all. But Lady Gisela clearly said that she was somehow associated with the Lodestar Initiative.

She sighed, walking away from the arguing group. She needed some peace and quiet.

Sarah walked through dozens of newly-bloomed trees. They were very colorful and assorted. Some were lilac, others were a fiery red.

She smiled and inhaled the sweet scent of... a cloth? She muffled a scream, but the kidnapper sniggered and pulled out a leaping crystal.

Taking Sarah away.

**A/N: First author's note of this fanfiction! I just wanted to say that it's the one-week anniversary of "The Sister You Never Knew Existed!" *squeals.* Wow, the time passed by really quickly!**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Whether you're reading this or reviewing a chapter, I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to do so. It means a lot to me. **

*Chapter Ten*

SARAH RUBBED AT her eyes and got ready for the gloomy wake-up view. But instead of seeing the familiar dark folded walls with boring tapestries hung on them like she was used to, she saw Lady Gisela standing aloof with a smirk on her face.

"You're pretty smart for someone who was raised in the Forbidden Cities," she said with a thin smile on her face, though her eyes told a different story. She was scowling at the corner wall.

"Alvar's there, isn't he?" guessed Sarah.

Lady Gisela harrumphed and studied Sarah closer. "Yes, yes, he is," she said distastefully.

"I know who you are," Sarah whispered, simpering.

"Ah, you do?" Lady Gisela's voice seemed ecstatic. "I'm glad, then. We won't have to go through all the challenges we thought we'd have to do."

Sarah scowled. "Why'd you send me to the Forbidden Cities and then kidnap me, anyway?"

"Oh, that. There was a slight... misunderstanding, now wasn't there, Alvar?" she turned to the corner, grimacing.

Sarah thought she heard an angry hiss from the corner wall, from Alvar.

"And what do I have to do with the Lodestar Initiative? Wasn't that planned for Keefe?" Sarah added, smiling innocently.

Lady Gisela narrowed her eyes. "I'm supposing you know much already."

"Oh, boy! Understatement of the _century!" _laughed Sarah, glaring daggers. "And we were going to find out more, but you kidnapped me."

"You could find out more here," Alvar said as he appeared from the shadowy corner. "You won't figure anything out where my little brother's concerned."

"Ooh! Vacker rivalry! Get me some popcorn!" Sarah chortled.

"_Dopcorm?" _Alvar looked bemused.

Sarah giggled all the while. "Human thing."

Lady Gisela frowned at her. "You need to get on with your training." She suddenly looked interested. "You manifested as an Empath, correct?"

Sarah felt the heat rise in her stomach. Telling them she was a Pyrokinetic would be a fool move. Then they'd Pyro-proof everything! She heard about fireproof chains and ropes. "Yes," she lied.

Lady Gisela raised an eyebrow. "I bet we can assure that confidence. Gethen!" she barked. "Bring him in!"

_What's she doing? _Sarah wondered.

An elf with very light blonde hair and sharp blue eyes stepped into the room, holding a prisoner bound by ropes. Keefe.

* * *

"Keefe!" Sarah cried.

"He won't hear you, my dear," Lady Gisela smiled thinly. "He's _unconscious_."

_Unconscious,_

_ Unconscious,_

_Unconscious._

The word echoed through Sarah's mind.

Her _brother _was kidnapped!

Soon all she could see was red, red-hot fire.

She pulled her fury out of her and yelled: "EVERBLAZE!" with pure instinct. She could see Lady Gisela and Alvar's shocked faces and Gethen's fear.

She wanted them all to pay.

Sarah drew the Everblaze through her hand and pushed it. It became a white-hot, blazing fireball.

The Everblaze protected Sarah and Keefe, trailing around them. Trapping Gethen.

She parted a bit of the fire and pushed Gethen out. Sarah heard a small shriek as she did. The fire continued to dangerously lick around them.

She closed her eyes and told the fire to _rise_.

Keefe was awake and screaming at Sarah to stop.

The Everblaze's walls rose higher and higher and grew thicker and thicker.

The inferno was in the entire hideout. Blazes pouring over blazes. Heat.

Sarah grabbed Keefe's hand and winced when she saw the accidental burn she made in his palm. "Let's go," she whispered. The fiery wall of Everblaze parted slightly, letting them race through the small pathway and up into fresh air.

Mostly, Sarah dragged Keefe.

"Come on, Keefe," she cried. She reached into her pocket but to no avail. "Ugh! They must have taken my home crystal!" she exclaimed.

Keefe coughed. Sarah slapped him on the back several times, making him hack.

Finally, Keefe whispered softly, "There."

A crystal was strewn on the grass.

"Keefe! You're brilliant!"

"Thank..." he coughed, "me later." He coughed again.

Sarah grabbed the crystal and shook it into the light, tugging Keefe in after her.

* * *

When Sarah could see again, she noticed that they were in a dense rainforest. Like in the pictures she saw at school back in San Diego.

A long river flowed by, and there were logs floating on top. Wait- no, they were crocodiles. "Uh, Keefe... I think we're in the Forbidden Cities." Now that she checked the crystal, she noticed it was blue. They were in such a hurry to escape that they didn't even ponder where it might lead.

Sarah glanced around, taking in the view. "I think we're in the Amazon rainforest, to be more specific."

"What?" Keefe gasped as he blinked, out of his daze. He covered his mouth. "Oh, wow..."

"Yep. But there's no time to sightsee, c'mon! The Amazon rainforest has a long list of deadly things and I should probably prepare you..."

"Oh, great," Keefe muttered. Sarah yanked his hand out of his pocket and tightened her grip on it.

"Stay close," she whispered, glancing around, as if searching for something. "Aha!" She grabbed a long wooden stick, after making sure it wasn't actually a snake.

"Might I ask what that's for?" Keefe asked, sounding truly frightened for the first time.

Sarah didn't answer, but instead pushed on, traipsing through the muddy ground. "Careful. There might be fire ants," she warned her brother.

"How do you know this stuff?" Keefe asked, in complete awe when he saw his sister battling a snake hanging from a low tree branch. It hissed and slithered back up.

"Eh. Here and there," she said vaguely, kicking a tree and causing some juicy fruit to fall into her open arms. "Here. Eat up," she ordered.

"Ewww," Keefe complained, glaring at the fruit as if it was the most disgusting thing in the world.

"You wanna eat worms instead? They're a _great _source of protein," Sarah deadpanned.

"Oh, uh, never mind. I'll eat this," Keefe said quickly, shoving the fruit into his mouth. He turned green as it went down. He retched. "Ugh." Then he glanced back at Sarah, who was happily munching on some. "How are you eating that?" he gasped.

"I went camping, and really roughed it back when I was eleven," Sarah said simply.

"Ah," Keefe nodded, acting as if he knew what camping was. He didn't. He quickly changed the subject. "So, how are we gonna get back to Everglen?"

"I don't know," shrugged Sarah. "The best thing we can do right now is try to survive."

Keefe gulped as he processed what she said.

Just then, something flashed into Sarah's brain. "No," she whispered, and crumpled on the damp rainforest floor.

* * *

_"__Sarah..." A lady wearing a black cloak approached her. She glanced around cautiously. "I am Renna," she murmured. "It will be important for you to remember that, later on."_

_Renna grasped Sarah's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Sarah, I need you to listen to what I am saying. The Black Swan is evil."_

_"What?" Sarah said, confused. "What's the Black Swan?"_

_"I was once with them," sighed Renna. "A tale for another time, but I was kicked out once I professed what I felt about their... tactics. They hesitate too much, and then it's too late..." Her voice broke off, as if she was remembering something. "The Neverseen are trying to make amends to the damage the Black Swan has done. They don't hesitate to fix things when needed." Renna grimaced. _

_"Okay, I don't know about anything you just told me," Sarah frowned. _

_"You will when the time is right," Renna told her. "Kenric..." she whispered, a single tear swirling down her face. "Kenric died because of the Council. He was my faithful brother and I... I was with the Black Swan at the time, working as a proxy. But the Black Swan didn't do anything to save him!"_

_Sarah's eyes widened. _

_"They just let him die. The Black Swan clearly doesn't care." Her eyes hardened. Then they softened as she fixated her gaze on Sarah. "Sarah, you need to know this. I got caught up in my hatred for the Black Swan. The Neverseen installed a special modification to your blood. It allows you to transport yourself from one tree to another. It's a little-known ability, but also incredibly rare one, called Quercatem. You are a Querker, which means you can touch one tree and push yourself into it, through a long process called hypherbaile."_

_"Okay, okay, I don't need the science lesson," Sarah said exasperatedly. _

_"Basically, you can teleport yourself through the roots of trees," Renna said, rolling her eyes. _

_"What?" Sarah said in awe. _

_"Yes. Just tell the tree where you want to go, and hopefully, if it's connected, you can bring yourself there." The memory faded away until there was nothing left but blankness. _

* * *

Who was Renna?

That was Sarah's first thought as she pushed back into reality. Keefe was shaking her vigorously. "Wake up, Sarah! Please! I don't know how to deal with those spotted monsters!"

Sarah jolted back into consciousness. "Oh, hi, Keefe," she mumbled, trying to piece together what Renna told her. "Wow, I'm a whatchacallit? Oh, yeah. Querker..." Sarah thought aloud.

"Okaayyyyy..." Keefe said slowly. His face showed obvious signs that he thought Sarah was having delusions.

"I'm fine, Keefe!" Sarah said quickly. "So, you said something about a-" She stopped abruptly and whispered, "Jaguar."

**A/N: Another cliffhanger!**** Also, I formed the ability 'Quercatem' from Latin phrases. 'Quercus' is the basic classification for trees, and I meshed it up with 'translationem,' which means transportation, again in Latin! **


	12. Chapter 11

*Chapter Eleven*

"J-J-JAGUAR." Sarah covered her mouth. "Keefe, just follow my l-lead." She bit her lip as she focused on breathing to calm herself. There was not just one, but a whole mob of jaguars.

"Yeah, and that's _so _easy to do while you're shaking like a-" Sarah slapped her palm over his mouth, interrupting whatever snarky comment he had.

Keefe mumbled something, but it was incoherent, since Sarah was covering his mouth.

Sarah grabbed his hand and dragged him away to a tall pona tree. She put her palm on the bark and whispered: "Everglen. Please take us to Everglen."

"Oh, great, she's going crazy now," Keefe muttered, trying to slip out of Sarah's firm grip.

Sarah ignored her brother and closed her eyes, trying to focus like Renna told her to. But it was hard to do while a group of very large, very scary jaguars carefully crept up to them, slinking around the trees with wile.

She felt a pulse through the bark. A strange heartbeat. Like the tree was alive. In a way, it was.

Then warmth pushed through the wood, and it empowered Sarah. She smiled. She could do this.

She felt power when she touched the tree.

"_Everglen_," she murmured, more sure of herself than ever now. Light poured from through the tree and started to swirl subtly around the bark.

Keefe jerked away from his sister just as the glowing folded in on Sarah and transported her home.

* * *

"KEEFE!" Sarah shrieked as she streamed through the roots, now merely a glow in the connected environment of Mother Nature.

She flew out of the tree and solidified. "KEEFE!" she cried again, actual tears streaming down her face and dribbling off her chin.

Tam, Linh, Fitz, Sophie, and Dex stood there as a group, gawking at her.

"What in the world?" Sophie gasped.

"I-I just brought myself back, a-a-and Keefe, he's still in the Amazon...I-I.." Sarah collapsed as a heap on the dewy grass.

Sophie gasped as she realized what Sarah was saying. "Are you sure it was the Amazon?"

"Stupid guy," Tam muttered under his breath, but his dark-grey eyes reflected concern. Tam and Keefe were apparently rivals, but they were still friends. So, they were technically frenemies.

"Did the Neverseen take you?" Dex asked, wringing his fingers.

Linh started to say something, but Sarah held up her hand. "Could you guys talk...one...at...a...time...please?" she breathed.

"Sure," Fitz butted in. He glanced around at everyone in the courtyard. "I'll reach out telepathically to everyone and ask you the questions. That way, it'll be more organized."

"Good idea," smiled Sophie, and she twined her fingers with Fitz's. Sarah very noticeably scowled at them. She was still vying for her brother, even though he wasn't there right now.

Sophie nervously let go of Fitz's hand as soon as she saw Sarah's ballistic glare. Fitz closed his eyes to monitor the thoughts.

A moment later, Fitz opened his eyes again. "Dex would like to know if the Neverseen took you."

"Yes. They did," Sarah narrowed her eyes.

"Okay. Sophie wants to know, one, were you in the Amazon?"

"Yes," puffed Sarah.

"All right. Two, she wants to know how you got there."

"Um, well, Keefe and I-"

"Also, mind explaining why Keefe was there?" Tam interrupted. Fitz silenced him with a stealthy glare.

"I don't know. I guess the Neverseen took him after me," Sarah admitted after a small break to catch her breath.

"Okay. Now can you go back to the other question? How did you get to the Amazon?"

"There was a leaping crystal that led us there. We found it hidden in the grass outside of the Neverseen's hideout," Sarah explained with a gusty sigh. She was worrying about how Keefe would survive the jaguars.

Fitz nodded briefly. "And Linh's question is- how did you make it here, but not Keefe?"

A hot tear made its way down Sarah's cheek. She sighed. "I learned I have a second ability that the Neverseen apparently recently installed in me. I'm a Querker."

"What's that?" Sophie asked, bemused as she forgot to stay silent. But, very noticeably, Fitz did not contradict her.

Sarah pursued her lips and elaborated. "I can teleport through trees' roots."

"And you can't bring people with you?" Sophie clarified.

"I don't know. I think maybe I can, but Keefe yanked himself out of my grip at the last moment, right as I was getting my energy."

Sophie uttered a string of unrepeatable words. "Calm down, Sophie," Fitz whispered, squeezing her hand for comfort. But nobody couldn't deny the fact that Keefe was far better at calming Sophie down than Fitz ever could be.

"I can try to go back, but I don't remember exactly how the tree looked like, and where, exactly, it was positioned," Sarah sighed. "And..." she hesitated. "I kinda forgot to mention that there's a huge group of hungry jaguars prowling around."

Everyone shrieked, "WHAT?!"

"Kind of a big detail to overlook," Fitz scowled.

Sarah shrugged, trying to look unperturbed. But the truth was, because of her fright, Keefe might die.

A determined glint in her eyes, Sophie said, "I'll teleport there. I'll save Keefe."

**A/N: Hey there! Just a quick notice- Normally, I update my fanfics every day or at least every other day. However, I need some more inspiration before I resume updating this one, in order for my writing to be the highest quality possible, so it may be a couple more days before I add a new chapter here. Thank you for your patience!**


	13. Chapter 12

*Chapter Twelve*

"WHOA," Sarah breathed. "You don't have to do that, Sophie. Now you're just making me feel guilty. _I _endangered Keefe. Hence, _I _should save him," she resolved with a pang of fear.

There were still the jaguars to deal with. She was no zoo expert, that was for sure.

Sophie tugged out two eyelashes before she spoke. "Look, Keefe is wild and unpredictable." She giggled nervously before returning to her stony face. "It's not your fault he got left behind."

"Plus, you were just getting used to the ability," Linh added softly.

Sarah's ice-blue eyes widened. "Why are you guys defending me? Clearly, it's my fault. It's as simple as that." She shook her head, sighing.

Fitz shook his head. "It really isn't. Trust me when I say that we all are annoyed at Keefe for his disappearing acts."

"He's done it before?" Sarah asked. Honestly, she wasn't surprised. She'd seen her brother do plenty of crazy things before. This was not so different from his typical behavior. "Actually, never mind," she jumped in. "But, seriously, I feel responsible for bringing Keefe back. I messed up, I gotta fix it." She put her hands on her hips, her lips spread into a thin smile.

Sophie sighed. "You're stubborn. I can see that. But-"

"No buts," Sarah interrupted, an intense look of fiery determination glinting in her eyes. "I'm going," she added, even more firmly. "Alone."

* * *

Sophie tried.

She yelled for Sarah to wait.

"IT MIGHT BE A TRAP!" she shouted, but Sarah ignored her and slapped her hands on the tree.

She heard the mixed screams and the cluttered footsteps racing towards her.

She didn't have much time.

"The Amazon Rainforest," Sarah muttered under her breath, imagining an Amazonian tree perched beside a horde of jaguars.

Sarah hoped it understood where she meant as she closed her eyes and flew through the roots.

* * *

Sarah rolled out of the tree, reforming. "Keefe?" she shrieked, dusting off her legs and getting up to her feet. "Keefe?" She glanced around. There was no jaguar in view. Nor Keefe. "Keefe?" she asked again, her voice rising.

Sarah fell to the muddy forest floor and started crying. "K-k-keefe!" she sobbed. _Did the jaguars eat him? _she wondered. Sarah bit her lip so hard that droplets of blood trickled down her chin. She wiped them off with her tunic sleeve, sniffling.

A pitter-patter sounded. Sarah glanced up. "Wow. This is just the best day of my life," Sarah said sarcastically, shielding her eyes.

It was raining.

* * *

Sarah lifted up her tunic's back, slinging it over her head to keep her face dry.

"Keefe?" she yelled, breathing heavily as she trudged through the rain. "Ugh! I hate rain! Why must it rain?" Sarah complained as a torrent sploshed down over her, completely drenching her clothes and exposed skin.

"Weeeell, it _is _called a rain forest," a snarky voice said from behind her.

A very familiar snarky voice.

"Keefe!" Sarah cried.

* * *

Keefe fell down to the rainforest floor as Sarah tackled him with a ginormous hug.

"Hey! THE HAIR!" Keefe screamed as his artfully-styled dirty blonde hair got mud all over it.

"The natural shampoo," teased Sarah, rubbing a dollop into his hair. "Also TASTES GOOD!" Her voice took on a furious tone as she squashed a handful of mud into Keefe's mouth.

Keefe spat the mud out. "Hey!" he cried. "Why'd you do that? I'm gonna have to wash my mouth out when we get home."

"Well, you _did _pull away from me when I was trying to Querk us back home!" Sarah yelled, restraining herself from throwing a powerful punch at her brother.

"Actually, that was my doing," a pleasantly sour voice came from above them.

Lady Gisela and the Neverseen were in the Amazon rainforest.

**A/N: Okay! This chapter's a little shorter, but I'm still fighting the dreaded writer's block, so it's to be expected.**

** Chapter Thirteen will come out soon, I promise! The information will be on my profile. **

**Thank you all for reading, reviewing, following, or favoriting! **


	14. Chapter 13

*Chapter Thirteen*

SARAH DARTED HER head up to the trees. Three cloaked figures were gracefully climbing down.

They tossed their hoods back, one by one.

Lady Gisela, with her hair swept up into a slick bun and her sharp eyes.

And two other elves that Sarah just didn't recognize. One was... well, Sarah just couldn't put her finger on, and the other was a blonde elf with a slightly disfigured face. She didn't know who they were. But Keefe did. "Fintan," he breathed, narrowing his eyes at the blonde one.

_Fintan? _"Who's that?" Sarah whispered to her brother.

"Bad guy," was all that Keefe said on the subject. He jumped to his feet and grabbed some throwing stars from his tunic's pockets, swiftly aiming them, and then with a _whoosh, _they each landed on the tree trunk behind the Neverseen members, just narrowly missing them.

"You missed," smirked the one beside Fintan.

He seemed pretty cocky.

"No, I didn't, Ruy," Keefe muttered.

One of the throwing stars returned like a boomerang, flying through the air and with a very painful _thwack, _it sliced into Ruy's left arm. He visibly winced.

Keefe smiled in satisfaction at the thin line of red showing through Ruy's cloak, although Sarah thought she saw a little disgust in Keefe's eyes and in the way he slightly cringed.

"See what happens when you mess with the Keefster?" Keefe declared, winking.

"Ah, but we were prepared as well," the guy named Fintan said, smiling grotesquely.

"What did we miss?" Sarah shot back, trying not to look at Fintan's slightly misshapen features.

Keefe seemed to notice Sarah's discomfort. "It happened in an Everblaze incident years back," he whispered.

Ruy was still angry with Keefe for slicing his arm.

"Your pathetic little _friends_ are about to learn what happens when-" Ruy yelped as the pain returned to his arm. "Owww! Anyways, when they mess with the Neverseen!" he finished, smiling wryly.

"I think you just learned what happens when _you _mess with _the Black Swan_," Keefe countered, twirling another throwing star around on his hip, the jagged edges just barely touching his tunic.

Sarah was bemused.

What did Ruy mean by that?

Her friends were safe-and-sound back at Everglen.

Right?

* * *

"Come on! This way!" Sophie led Fitz, Linh, Tam, and Dex through the Amazon rainforest. "KEEFE?" she yelled.

Only the occasional chatter of a monkey and the squawking of a toucan met her cry.

"Keefe?" Fitz said uncertainly, echoing Sophie's voice. He kept tightening his grip on Sophie's hand.

"Seriously, we're not playing hide-and-seek here, Keefe," Sophie said firmly, her eyes darting around to any possible hiding spots.

"Ah, but we are."

"What was that? Were you speaking, Dex?" Fitz asked suddenly.

"Nooo," Dex shook his head.

"Was that you, Linh?" Sophie asked quickly. Her breathing had been glacial a moment before, but now it was heavy and rapid.

"It wasn't," Linh replied solemnly. "Tam?"

"It definitely was not," Tam shook his head, nervously casting a thin shadow over himself and Linh.

"Oh, don't bother hiding. We know you're here." And stepping out from behind a tree was Lady Gisela.

* * *

"Where did she go?" Sarah muttered to Keefe, chagrined.

They had taken their eyes off her for a second, and she disappeared.

"We have to assume the worst," Keefe sighed. "She's probably off making Everblaze fires to burn down the world's most precious rainforests."

"Yeah, probably," agreed Sarah grimly.

"It's none of your business where Lady Gisela has gone. But it is your business to pay for what you've done to my arm!" Ruy howled and he charged towards Sarah and Keefe, his arms out.

"What's he doing?" Sarah whispered.

But Keefe didn't answer; he shoved Sarah to the side and before long, Keefe was slammed against a hard tree. "Telekinesis," he mumbled as he shook his head, trying to ease away the dizziness.

Sarah hissed in anger and slowly stepped towards Ruy.

In just a second, she had him by the scruff. "You. Don't. Hurt. My. Brother," she spat, throwing him against another tree.

Keefe held up his hand for a high-five.

Sarah slapped it. Then she turned to Fintan, her eyes widening.

"Do I seem familiar?" he sneered.

Sarah's jaw went slack. "W-w-w..."

"I trained you when you were just a baby," he said with a thin smile. "You are a talented girl."

Sarah flushed at the praise, but then growled. "I don't belong to the Neverseen anymore."

"Are you sure about that?" Fintan smiled wryly. "You will _always_ be part of the Neverseen. You can't escape your destiny, Sarah."

She swung up her arms and then whispered, "Come to me." A blaze of fire burst from her palm, and it flickered red and yellow.

Fintan seemed mildly impressed. "You will be a valuable asset to us one day."

"Oh, yeah?"

Sarah tossed the fireball to him, but Fintan nimbly caught it, unfazed. His smile was weathered and papery. "Yes, indeed."

"How?" Sarah shot back. "You can't make me!" She smiled as she pinned her still-very-pink hair up into a swishy ponytail.

"We have our ways," Fintan simpered. "Like... taking your brother hostage, per se."

Sarah gasped. She swiveled around, her ponytail whirling onto her left shoulder.

She saw a gleam of light flash briefly, and two figures vanish into it. Fintan had been distracting her so they could kidnap Keefe!

"How...how could you?!" she sputtered.

Fintan calmly studied his nails. "We do what it takes to reach our goal."

Sarah was speechless. For a minute, at least. "You are so EVIL!" Her anger fueled the fire in her heart, and it poured out of her body, over the grass, and onto the trees. Setting the Amazon rainforest on fire.

A surge of shame put herself on static.

She just helped the Neverseen accomplish their mission.

**A/N: Hey! I am so excited to write the next chapter, but first, I want to say something. TODAY IS THE THIRD-WEEK ANNIVERSARY FOR THIS FANFIC! *parades around, shoving a large piece of mallowmelt into mouth* Yay!**


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen*

SARAH LET A dainty tear break free of her eye, before she swiped it away.

"I...I..." She couldn't breathe. The world before her eyes was exploding.

Fire licked at the trees, burning at the ground.

Helicopters from up above whirred and tried to splash water and solutions onto the fury. They hardly succeeded.

Sarah's throat was lodged. She couldn't speak.

The blaze was consuming all life and color.

Fintan just chuckled as if his opponent lost at chess. As if this was no big deal at all.

"You! H-how could you?" Sarah sputtered.

"Remember, Karcey, you did it... you did it..." His voice faded and so did the scene.

Everything went black.

* * *

Sarah blinked her eyes open and sat up. She was in a small wood building. In a tiny cot, set in the corner. Sarah slipped off the bed and blinked again. Where was the fire? Where was the forest she was just in? What happened?

"Ah, I see you're awake," a pleasant and yet slightly cold voice said. A figure stood at the door. Through it, Sarah could see a small room with a large symbol painted on the floor, or somehow _made into the floor_.

It sent chills up Sarah's spine. "What do you want?" she snapped.

"Your cooperation," Lady Gisela said simply.

"You do realize that I'll never-"

"We have Keefe, remember?" Lady Gisela stated, flicking at her cloak. Lint, probably, if elves actually had lint on their clothes. They were almost picture perfect.

_Almost. _

But the Neverseen ruined that image for Sarah. Sarah's shoulders sunk. Of course. They had her at all sides. Pinned down to the floor with hardly any options left but reluctant cooperation. "Okay," she whispered. "But don't hurt him!" she added loudly.

"We would never." Lady Gisela gave a snide smile. Oh, Sarah had no doubt the Neverseen would hardly hesitate to kill Keefe, if necessary.

"I'm glad, then," Sarah said coolly.

"I am as well. Glad we could come to an agreement without having to do things the hard way." Lady Gisela faked a shudder. "I hate to imagine what would have happened without your easy acceding."

Sarah resisted the urge to tackle Lady Gisela and punch her in her oh-so-pettily turned up nose. To put a smack in her disgusting pride. Sarah took a deep breath. Calming herself. For now. _If it's needed, I'll get ready to summon my fire, _Sarah told herself. _I'll burn Gisela to ashes! _Then she remembered what Alden had said a long time ago. When she met the mysterious Black Swan. _"Elves' minds can shatter if they let guilt seep into their minds." _Alden had seemed extemely serious when he had said that. It was no joke, that was for sure. He had also admitted, more morosely, that it had happened to him. He advised her to push away any guilt the moment it came in her mind. She couldn't murder Lady Gisela and not feel any guilt; she wasn't evil. Alden had a point. Tears formed in the back of her eyes as Sarah remembered how caring and considerate Alden had been. She would probably never see him again. Well, if she couldn't escape, that was. She decided she was going to see Alden again.

She was going to escape.

* * *

"Remember our deal," Lady Gisela told Sarah with a thin smile on the edges of her lips. "If you struggle, we will not hesitate to get rid of him."

"Even though he's your own son? Your own flesh and _blood_?" The last word hung on Sarah's tongue as she rollicked it for Lady Gisela to realize just how much Sarah knew about Keefe and Lady Gisela's rocky relationship.

Well, that was technically understating it.

Lady Gisela had drawn pools of Keefe's blood simply to open a door.

She was vicious.

Lady Gisela seemed to be slightly hit by Sarah's emphasizing. "Yes," she said quietly. "I would not hesitate to dispose of him for the greater good."

And that was the first time Sarah ever believed Lady Gisela's words. "You're pure evil." Sarah shook her head, sighing. Then to try to lighten her sinking despair, she added, "A terrible mom, too! Did you buy Keefe those discount diapers off the market?"

* * *

Keefe struggled through his tightly-bound ropes on his hands. The ropes cut some of his skin, but he didn't care.

He needed to get to his sister.

_Sarah. _

They said they'd kill her in an instant the second he escaped.

He couldn't try anything.

This was the first time he felt truly helpless.

He was just a useless pawn.

* * *

Sarah crinkled her nose at the terrible stench floating through the air.

Alvar was carrying in a tray of contorted...fruit? It was rotten and mossy.

"What's that?" she said, trying to read Alvar's expression.

Alvar set himself beside Sarah on the cot. She tried not to shrink back. He was a member of the Neverseen, regardless of how amusing he could be.

"Have some," he offered, holding out a yellow-green cylinder.

"Eww. No. I'd rather starve," Sarah complained.

"Okay," he shrugged, but his eyes reflected concern. "How... how are you doing?" he tried.

Sarah gave a raucous laugh; Alvar flinched. "HOW AM I DOING?" she screamed. "I WAS JUST KIDNAPPED BY THE NEVERSEEN FOR THE SECOND TIME IN MY LIFE! AND THEY HAVE MY BROTHER! AND I MIGHT DIE! AND YOU HAVE THE _NERVE _TO ASK ME HOW I'M DOING! DOES THAT KIND OF QUESTION ACTUALLY HAVE AN ANSWER? I"M NOT FINE!" she ranted, punching the wall. Some wood chips crumbled, and dust rained down on them.

Alvar cringed. "Wow." Then he grinned. "I like strong character."

"Eww." Sarah moved herself to the end of the cot. Away from the crazy psychopath.

"Look," Alvar said, moving himself closer to Sarah, "I don't like everything that's happening, either. But do you really like the other option better? Ignorance and weakness? I'd prefer a balance myself, but... we don't get to decide everything that happens in life."

He put a hand on Sarah's shoulder, and she let it stay there.

"I guess," she mumbled.

Alvar smiled. A smile that had depths of worry and a slightly proud, appraising look to it. "I knew I liked you the moment you came."

"You mean when you kidnapped me?" Sarah snapped, shaking his hand off.

Alvar's smile faded and he stared down at the ground. "I'm sorry, Sarah," he said quietly. "I know you might never completely forgive me for that- and I totally get that. But could we start- as friends?"

"We... We can try," Sarah said eventually, offering her hand.

Alvar gratefully took it. "Friends?"

"Friends," Sarah shrugged. "I guess I forgive you. Kinda. Not really."

Alvar grinned. "We'll work on that. But for now, friends is fine." He squeezed her hand and they smiled at each other.

Sarah's hid more than Alvar's.

It felt so wrong. To actually like a kidnapper.

But then again, life wasn't black and white.

It had all shades of grey.

And Sarah had to accept that.

**A/N: Not going to say much, but could Arah/Salvar be a ship? If you have any ideas or suggestions, don't hesitate to tell me!**


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: Sorry for the slightly longer wait; I was pretty busy. Here's Chapter Fifteen!**

*Chapter Fifteen*

SARAH SIGHED as she wrung the bottom of her tunic, biting at chinks of her no-longer-so-lustrous pink-tinted hair.

_I hope Keefe's okay, _she thought dismally. Who knew what the Neverseen was doing to him?

Torture.

Blackmail.

...Or murder.

No! Sarah refused to think like that. _I'm sure he's fine, _she assured herself, _he's got a talent for surviving in times like these. _But even as her thoughts drifted around, there wasn't much positivity to focus on. She was hungry. Tired. Sleepy. And she was worried.

As she closed her eyes and tried to think about something nice, like cupcakes and rainbows, but maybe not that extreme, there was a slow creak in the room.

Sarah opened her ice-blue eyes and set her gaze on Alvar, who was holding a twisted vegetable in his arms. It looked to be about one foot long. "I figured you were hungry," Alvar said cheerfully, walking over to Sarah, who was piteously lying down on her rather uncomfortable cot.

"You figured right," Sarah mumbled, grabbing the vegetable and devouring it, though it tasted like grime from the tiles of a bathroom floor. And it definitely didn't help that it had some sort of fungus growing on it. Alvar had obviously tried to pick some off, by the looks of the scraped edges, but unfortunately, not all could be removed. She gulped, trying to make the retch-worthy taste fade away.

"Thanks," she reluctantly said, rising to her feet. Dearly hoping that the fungus on the vegetable was not poisonous. She had a sudden realization hit her like a baseball. She. Was. Bored."So, uh, what do you do around here? Other than think up evil plans and stuff." She bit her bottom lip and her eyebrows knitted together, because, well, it _was_ true.

Alvar looked away as she said this. "Well," he said after a moment's thought, "we do chores. Like now I'm supposed to take out the laundry."

_Laundry. _Yeah, the Neverseen looked pretty kooky right then.

"Laundry? Ew. Does Gethen sweat?" joked Sarah.

Alvar chortled, but then glanced around, as if worried Gethen was actually around. Finally, as if satisfied by the results, he said, "Sometimes," in a hushed tone.

Sarah giggled. Then her face regained a serious façade. "Can I go with you? I'm sooo sick and tired of having nothing to do but lie around on this stiff bed." _True story. You can get tired of too much rest,_ thought Sarah with a teensy chortle escaping her lips.

Alvar bit his lip casually, making blood stream out in various lines. "I'm not sure if...Orders say you're supposed to stay here." He ran a hand over his hair to smoothen it. Sarah noticed it was styled pretty fancily today. It appeared as though Alvar had used lots of hair gel to make his hair slick back perfectly.

"Nobody will ever know," winked Sarah. She tried a charming smile to see if it could help "persuade" him. One of those smiles she always saw on soap operas back when she was six. When her current foster mom would have told her she was too little- No, that was the past. But it affected the present, and the future. The past was a part of her. And Sarah knew she had to embrace that. She couldn't pretend she had a normal life. A normal childhood. Because it didn't happen. And who was she kidding? _Lying to yourself only works for so long,_ she thought. _You need to start telling yourself the truth. _

She looked up to see Alvar's reaction.

"Fine," Alvar consented. "If we stay on the down-low, you can come help me."

"Great!" Sarah never thought she'd be so excited to do laundry.

* * *

Keefe breathed raggedly. "Focus, Keefe," he muttered to himself.

He glared at the dull grey floor, kicking it. Was his sister even alive?

Did the Neverseen kill her out of mere spite?

Or did she still have a chance?

Fintan stepped in the dungeon, tossing a moldy and far-too-soft fruit on the ground for Keefe, just as if he was a dog.

"Having fun?" he asked coolly, laughing at Keefe's stony face. "I guess not," he grinned. As if slightly disappointed by Keefe's lack of response, he left the room.

After glaring at the locked door and his chains for a few minutes, Keefe bit into the fruit, cherishing each and every bite.

He wished he could escape.

* * *

"So, how do you wash it, exactly?" Sarah frowned down at the cloak splayed on the grass, its dust evident.

"Well," Alvar gritted his teeth, "I'm not sure. I guess we'll just toss it in the water and hope it washes well." He threw the cloak into the lake, and Sarah ignored Alvar's preposition, instead kneeling in the shallow water, and scrubbing at it. "Wow, you wash well. What's your secret?" Alvar flashed at her.

"Changing from foster family to foster family," Sarah said quietly. At least, until she was finally adopted. Then she was kidnapped. Just a month afterwards. Right when she was settling in. And she was finally accepting them.

"I...thought you had a family." Alvar seemed uncomfortable. He touched the hem on his dark tunic, holding Sarah's gaze.

"I did. I tried to only think of them as my real family, even though they adopted me. Authorities checked and there was no record of my birth happening. No record of my parents. They assumed maybe they were foreigners. And, well, I finally accepted the fact that I'd never find out who my real family is." She stifled a small cry, and looked down. "But I can't deny the obvious." Sarah pursed her lips, absentmindedly biting into her pink hair. _Ahhhh. _The bristly threads ran through her teeth, soothing her.

"What's that?" Alvar whispered. The cloak lay forgotten in the water.

"I'm just meant to be alone," Sarah sniffled. Then she turned to the side, explosions happening under her skin. _Wow. Talk about worst thing ever to say to a Neverseen member! _she thought. She couldn't show her weakness to her very kidnapper!

But Alvar didn't seem to be completely awful.

And, well, he was funny and nice and made Sarah feel like she _wasn't _alone.

"Hey," he said quietly. "Don't cry." He walked to Sarah's other side, met her eyes, and wiped away the group of tears that were slicking down her face. _Uhhh, what did he just do? _"You're strong." Alvar added, "And you'll never be alone if you join the Neverseen."

Sarah was not sure about how to react when Alvar touched her. He was a kidnapper! But... it felt nice.

Alvar hesitated for a moment before enveloping Sarah in a slightly stiff hug. He hadn't hugged anyone in a long while. But... it felt nice.

Sarah hugged him back, her arms squeezing him tightly. She breathed in the scent of dirt and his shampoo. "Thanks, Alvar," she murmured into his ear.

"What for?" Alvar asked as they pulled away, both blinking rapidly. She gave a slightly teary smile, and she threw her hair over her back, out of her ice-blue eyes.

Locking her gaze on Alvar, she said, "For helping me realize my destiny."

**A/N: Thank you all again!**

**Also, to the reviewer who asked for longer chapters- I WILL TRY! Xd. I find it hard to fit in a lot of things in one chapter, so typically they end up being 600-1,500 words long each, but, I will DEFINITELY try harder to squeeze in some more words! :D.**

**Thank you,  
**

**every reviewer, **

**every reader, **

**EVERYONE!**


	17. Chapter 16

*Chapter Sixteen*

ALVAR'S EYES WIDENED in surprise. "What do you mean, destiny?"

"Thanks for trying to help me." Sarah sighed, wiping away a stray tear. "But I'm a rogue. And I can't be part of a secret organization. Not the Neverseen, nor the Black Swan. I'll work better alone."

"Hmm?" Alvar had Sarah's hand in a vise grip.

"I'm saying... that I have to go." Sarah bit her lip as she pulled her hand free with no difficulty, and sprung into a cartwheel. "Thanks for everything, Alvar." She smiled faintly as her heart throbbed in pain at what she was about to do. She was strong, Alvar thought in awe as she pocketed his crystal and...

Wait. A. Minute.

She stole his light crystal? "Sticky fingers," Alvar said dreamily, but then slapped himself. Though he had never felt this way towards any humane being, he had to snap out of it and stop Sarah from escaping. He tried to chase her, but he didn't have to.

"Mm. Good try," Lady Gisela said, "but you'll have to do much better this time to evade us."

* * *

Biana groaned as she blinked her eyes open and caught a whiff of... a really bad stench.

"Where are we?" Biana heard Sophie mumble.

Green buildings surrounded the view, and a boggy lake blurred by.

They were in Ravagog.

Carried by ogres.

* * *

Sarah mumbled in her sleep, tossing and turning. A moment later, she sat upright.

Tears stretched down her cheeks.

Brushing down her chin.

She didn't realize what was happening until it did. Alvar was embracing her. He pulled away abruptly, seeming embarrassed about what he just did.

"I can't believe it," he murmured, touching Sarah's right cheek.

"Hey! Handsy much. Get your hand off my face," Sarah muttered as she slapped Alvar's hand off. "What is it, laundryman?"

"You passed the test!" Alvar seemed giddy. His lips were drawn into a straight line, but beneath it his jawline was twitching, as if he wanted to smile but resisted the temptation in order to look tough.

"What... test?" blinked Sarah, using her fingers to comb her hair; it was scraggly and tangled.

"Well, apparently Lady Gisela and Fintan followed us to the lake and they saw everything that happened."

"Everything?" Sarah blushed, looking down at the ground as she untangled a severe knot in her hair with just her index finger and thumb.

"Yeah," Alvar nodded vigorously. "They're willing to let you in as an official member of the Neverseen now."

* * *

Keefe thrashed against his bonds, but it was useless.

The chains were too strong.

Too unbreakable.

The complete opposite of him.

* * *

Sarah fisted her hands and slammed them into the wall. "You are complete idiots," she giggled hysterically, falling to the floor and lapsing into a ball, rocking back and forth as she chuckled.

Alvar was looking seriously worried. "Um, do we have a physician around here?"

"If anything, you guys need them," guffawed Sarah. "Didn't you hear my big speech-io?" For some reason, now the laughs were uncontainable. _Everything_ seemed funny to her now.

Lady Gisela raised an eyebrow. "You are far too much like Keefe."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Sarah said, her lips pursed. "Anyhow," she smiled curtly, "I'm assuming that you heard everything. Meaning you heard the three simple, basic, and excessively rudimentary words I used. I. Work. Alone." Then her lips were drawn tightly again, pretending she hadn't just thrown up the thesaurus. "I had big expectations of you guys, but not being able to comprehend three words? That's... wow, that's just too rich." She let out another long giggle.

Lady Gisela smiled thinly. "Oh, no. We heard you, all right. But you passed the test. You see, we wanted to see how you escaped. Using someone close to you to get what you want- sometimes you have to take extreme measures."

"Oh, Alvar's not close to me," Sarah said, offering a large smile again, laughing at their deriding.

Alvar shrugged. "She's kinda right." But he held out his hand for Sarah to take.

Sarah ignored it. After breathing in deeply, she calmed down, her laughter ceasing. "I'm not going to join any organization. I'm staying outta this war," she told them with a small smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"A wise decision, to be sure," nodded Gethen. "But how can you ignore our proposal when we have _this?_"

A thin, ragged figure was dragged into the room. It coughed and held its stomach as if in extreme pain. "Keefe," whispered Sarah.

* * *

"Join us and the both of you will remain safe," Lady Gisela said, pursing her lips.

"Do you hear yourself now?" Sarah shook her head. "And look, seriously, _just look _at Keefe. He might _die _any minute now! Are you guys willing to take that risk? Just to get some new recruits?" She spat at the floor in disgust. "You guys are sickening to the very core."

Lady Gisela shrugged. "We are _willing _to take risks in general. Risks are worth the profit."

"Are they?" Sarah argued, holding a hand over her mouth as she shivered at the sight of her collapsing brother. "You stinkin' bastards..." Sarah let out a stream of very dirty words that people under the age of eighteen should never hear nor know.

Gethen jumped, loosening his grip on Keefe, causing him to slid onto the ground helplessly. His light-blue eyes widened, mildly impressed. "You sure know some tough words."

"Don't try flirting with me. Alvar tried and it didn't turn out well," Sarah flashed back.

Alvar shrugged as Gethen's eyes scanned over him. "Scrawny boy, huh?"

"Ugggggh. Could evil people stop falling for me?" Sarah flicked a strand of her hair out of her eyes, sighing. "I mean, look at _this_," she gestured at herself, "and I understand why, but keep your emotions in check, 'kay?"

"Enough playing!" Lady Gisela snapped, her sharp eyes falling on Sarah. "Too much like Keefe," she muttered.

"What was that?" Sarah asked. "Gethen, sorry to disappoint, but I think maybe you're not my type. Don't take it seriously, I'm just more into dark-haired guys. Blond is so last year." Her eyes fell on Alvar, making him blush and avert his eyes.

Gethen cursed, and everyone turned to look at him. He flushed and swatted at the air. "Dang flies," he mumbled.

When the Neverseen turned back to where Sarah had been, she was not there. Only blank wall greeted their glances.

Keefe wasn't there, either.

"Feel free to let loose now, bro," Alvar said quietly.

* * *

"C'mon, Keefe, pull through," Sarah whispered, pulling her brother as she made her way through the maze-of-a-hideout. "They should really hire some interior decorators. This place looks like it's a Halloween cornmaze or sumthin'."

She only got a ragged groan in response. "Ugh. I guess it's dinnertime," Sarah sighed, pulling out a thick-wadded sandwich. "Sorry to do this, Keefio, but tough times call for tough measures..." She bit her lip. "I wonder if elves mean serious vegetarians or if they'd accept fish. Tuna time, bro."

She stuffed the rye sandwich in Keefe's mouth and he was still unresponsive. "I guess I gotta be the responsible one," groaned Sarah. She moved Keefe's jaw to chew the food, and she pushed on his throat to make him swallow it. "Keefe?" She sighed and threw him over her shoulders, hunching forwards and walking as fast as she could.

"Going somewhere?" a steely voice asked.

**A/N: Happy Halloween to everyone who celebrates it! Sorry I can't give you guys candy, but pretend this chapter is the treat. 7 days 'till Legacy is out, WOO!**


	18. Chapter 17

*Chapter Seventeen*

SARAH TURNED TO FIND ALVAR, leaning against the wall, smirking. "Thought you'd get away with it, didn't you?"

Sarah felt Keefe slip off her back as she fell on the ground, tears forming in the back of her eyes. _Why can't we have a single victory in our hands? _she thought desperately, feeling a cold tear dribble down her cheek.

"Hey, no hard feelings," Alvar held up his hands, a sad, resignated look of defeat simmering in his cobalt-blue eyes. "If it were up to me, I'd let you off the bar. But if I did, they might... well, you know."

"Kill you?" guessed Sarah, her shoulders going slack as she got up to her feet, wiping her tears away.

Alvar was silent, but he nodded.

"I'm sick of this. I'm sick of it all," Sarah cried, shaking her head with as much energy as she could muster. "Why, Alvar? _Why_?"

Alvar put a firm hand on Sarah's shoulder, sighing. "I need to be with the Neverseen. You saw my brother, didn't you? Your brother's best friend?"

She nodded, trembling as she quietly waited for Alvar to explain.

"He's the Golden Boy in the family. I was forgotten. Yes, I came to Vacker get-togethers sometimes, but it saddened me to see just how forgotten I was. Mom was kind and all, but she clearly had no idea what I was up to. Dad himself didn't care, either. He just asked to look polite." He paused, silent tears trickling out of his eyes. "To maintain his stupid image!"

Tears flooded out of Sarah's eyes as she clung to Alvar, listening in solemn silence.

"But none of that matters anyway," Alvar continued, smiling now. "Because I discovered I had a different purpose to the world."

Sarah looked up and saw a gleam in Alvar's eyes. "I'm an essential part of the Lodestar Initiative."

* * *

"What?" Sarah asked, startled. She pulled away from the crook of Alvar's neck and met his eyes, shocked.

"You see, it wasn't all about Keefe," Alvar delineated. "The Lodestar Initiative was started a long time ago. Vespera had this sudden idea. She thought, what if the elves could reveal themselves once again to the humans, so both species could thrive. She conducted all sorts of experiments to see their emotions and reactions. But she knew she'd need a lead for it, someone who'd know just how to control the humans. In the case of a debacle."

"In case the humans rebelled?" guessed Sarah.

Alvar nodded. "Precisely. However, Vespera was soon caught, imprisoned in Atlantis for so-called _eternity._" He flashed a half-grimace, half-smile. "Fintan discovered her plans and modified them slightly to meet his needs. He knew we could reach interspecial peace. Vespera hadn't named the process, though. So Fintan dubbed it _the Lodestar Initiative_. Any guesses why?"

"Because peace clears life and conscience?" Sarah said, thinking aloud.

"Exactly!" Alvar smiled dreamily before he bit his lip. "I'd explain everything, but I need to bring you back. Gisela will eventually trust you if you warm up to her. We can pretend you needed the restroom? I'm sure we can think up a good cover-up story..." He met her eyes hopefully.

"I can't, Alvar," whispered Sarah, shaking her head. She placed her hands atop Alvar's shoulders, her breath warming Alvar's cheeks as she advanced on him. "We need to go. But..." Her voice trailed off.

"But what?"

Sarah leaned forward, her lips nearly touching Alvar's. "But I couldn't leave without doing this." She kissed Alvar, slowly and deliberately. Alvar relaxed, pulling her closer, twirling his fingers in Sarah's wavy pink curls that were fading to blonde. They gasped for breath, smiling at each other. "Goodbye, Alvar," she murmured, pushing him away, wincing as she heard Alvar's audible _No! _

She grabbed Keefe, slamming her fingers against the wooden wall.

_Everglen._

**A/N: This was a short chapter, but I wanted to update, sooo. **

**Legacy is OUT, people! Probably old news to most of you but I had to say it! This is basically a montage of the past year for me:*pre-orders on Amazon months before* *stares at countdown* *dreams about Legacy* *waits at midnight, staring lividly at the phone's screen, watching the countdown _tick, tick_* **

**And I read it. Frankly it's kind of a disappointment, but, ah well. I'm just going to continue with this fanfic as I normally would. Legacy or no Legacy. **


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N: OMG it's been FOREVER! I'm so sorry! I've been so busy, especially because final semester exams and all, but I'm still active on FanFiction every now and then.**

**REVIEW RESPONSES:**

**There were 2-4 guests that reviewed that didn't tag a name, so I can't really individualize them; but thanks anyway for reviewing!**

**Keephie4ever: Here's the chapter! :D, thanks so much for reviewing!**

**Reader11: Thank you! I always loved KOTLC and I had this idea in my head for a while.**

**RamenG: I'll try to write this fanfic as long as poss! :)**

**FangirlFrenzy: OMG, you reviewed a long while ago; sorry I wasn't able to get back to you faster, but I'm glad you like it, :D. Thank you for reviewing and hope you continue to enjoy the story!**

**And thanks again for anyone reading this story! It isn't that popular, but I'd be happy even if just one person got to read this chapter. :)**

*Chapter Eighteen*

Sarah flashed through the wood-paneled walls and in an instant she found herself swiftly rolling out of a tree trunk positioned in Everglen's beautiful lush meadow backyard. Keefe followed up, moaning and rubbing his forehead. "Good, you're awake," she said brusquely, wiping her hands off on her pantleg, which had the jean's fabric curled up over the kneecap, which was bruised and red.

Keefe eyed it cautiously, getting up to his feet and running a hand through his very disheveled blond hair. "You...okay, Sarah?" he asked, carefully choosing his words, knowing how hot-headed his sister could sometimes be.

Sarah ignored him, pressing her hand on her forehead and letting out a stream of extremely colorful words that you would only find in an R-rated movie.

"Yeaaaaah, I'll take that as a no..." Keefe slowly said, his ice-blue eyes flickering concernedly over his sister's battered figure.

Sarah still took no notice to him, her head in her hand. She cradled it, closing her eyes and falling against the tree's bark, leaning into the rough wood. "Hey-no, hey!" Keefe waved a hand in front of her face, shaking his head contemptuously. "C'mon, Karce, ya gotta-"

"Karce?" Sarah said incredulously, her eyes sharpening on her brother as she folded her arms over her chest. "No way are you calling me that, you pest."

"She's aliiiive!" Keefe screeched, weakly demonstrating the jig before collapsing to the grass, grinning wildly.

Sarah scowled. "Just never call me that again if you care at all about your hair."

In a flash, Keefe was on his knees, bending over Sarah, glaring at her with a malicious smirk upon his lips. "Don't. You. Even. Dare," he muttered through gritted teeth. The effect was hilarious.

Sarah keeled over laughing, smiling at her brother and shaking her head.

"Feeling better now?" Keefe commented, cocking an eyebrow up in her direction.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Confound you," she mumbled.

"Sorry, what?" Keefe asked, cupping his ear.

"I SAID, CONFOUND YOU!" Sarah screamed into his ear canal; and Keefe flinched, his palm secure on top of his ear.

He looked scared to say anything snarky that might've come across his mind to say.

A satisfied smirk took over her mouth as she crossed her arms over her chest triumphantly. Then all resolve faded and she shakily stumbled back into the tree again, her eyes closed.

"Um, be careful- you don't wanna accidentally teleport somewhere, do'ya?" Keefe said, lowering his gaze to the grass stemming up from the ground. He grasped a small strand and tugged it out of the soil, its roots wiggling in the air.

Sarah shrugged, her chest trembling.

"What is it?"

"Hmm?" Sarah said, her eyes traveling down to her lips. She touched them._ I can't believe I kissed a member of the Neverseen_, she thought, remembering the way Alvar's lips felt on hers. It had been nirvana.

"You look... shook," Keefe replied. "OH!" He glared at Sarah, his gaze settling on her mouth. "Why are you staring down at your lips, Sarah?" he said slowly.

"Uh, no reason in particular," Sarah lied, her cheeks turning cotton candy pink.

"Uh-huh. Yeah. I'm sure," nodded Keefe, putting his hands on his hips. "Did you..." Suddenly it seemed like lightning had zapped Keefe right in the head. He looked like the lightbulb in his brain just turned on. "You didn't... Saraaaaah." His eyes narrowed and he fixated his stare on his sister suspiciously. "I'm your brother. Tell. Me. Everything. Right. _Now_."

Sarah chuckled nervously, her arms clutching the sides of her stomach, her chipped nails digging into her loose shirt's polyester. "Who said anything, uh, _happened_ at all?"

"Sarah" was all Keefe said. And boy did he say it sternly.

Like he knew what had occurred.

"Fine! I kissed Alvar, okay?" spat out Sarah, her eyes snapping up to see how Keefe reacted to the news.

He was wincing, his ice-blue eyes flaring with desperation and sadness and oh so much guilt and worry. They were a spectrum. "You did?" he asked, but his tone was resignated. Like he knew it'd happen eventually or something along the lines of that.

Sarah simply nodded, unsure of what to say.

"And... you started it, not him?" Keefe verified, hugging himself.

Sarah's head briefly bobbed again.

"Oooookay then." Keefe looked like he honestly didn't know what to say. Until a few minutes later, when he enveloped Sarah in a tight embrace.

Shocked, Sarah began to gently pat Keefe's back, but Keefe wrenched her hand and pulled it over his shoulder, initiating a real hug.

Tears spilled onto Keefe's grungy clothes, and brother and sister hugged like they'd never see each other again.

Because they might not.

**A/N: Another author's note, woo. Mostly I'm just writing this to say sorry this was mostly a filler chapter, :(, I'll try to fit in more drama in the next one. It's kinda hard to, bc I love fillers, they make the story seem a lot more natural, I mean, huge plot occurrances happening in every chapter? #toomuch. But too many and then where's the story. So yeah.**

** Happy Holidays!**


	20. Chapter 19

*Chapter Nineteen*

BIANA squinted through the greenish haze. "Let us go!" she demanded, trying to refrain from crying._ Chill, Biana,_ she told herself firmly,_ You need to stay calm for everyone._

Beside her, Fitz was grunting and attempting to cut his ropes free. Tam and Linh were bound together. And Dex was staring at his ropes like they'd somehow magically break free.

"Guys...," Biana whispered, her eyes flicking over the group, "where's Sophie?"

Fitz's head snapped up. "She's not with us?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"No." Biana shook her head, frowning.

Linh sighed, leaning her head back against Tam's, her silver-grey eyes shimmering with a sadness beyond her years. "They took her captive. She is the Moonlark, after all, guys." Tam nodded, squeezing her hand tightly, his gaze glowing with brotherly protection.

"We need to stay strong," Biana said fiercely. "For Sophie."

"For Sophie!" they shouted.

* * *

"Get up, Keefe. Rise and shine at 'em!" Sarah grasped her brother's shoulders and sharply shook. She groaned. "C'mon! We need to formulate a rescue plan! Your precious Foster's been taken captive along with all your other friends and you dare sleep in?"

"I was tired," Keefe mumbled, turning over, his back to his snappy sister.

Sarah narrowed her ice-blue eyes, the ones that were uncannily like Keefe's. "Hey, don't go and ignore me. Look, I didn't _ask_ for this weight to be put on me; but obviously you can't be the responsible one. I hate being responsible, it's sooo boring, but when the people I care about's lives are at stake, I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

"Yeh" was all that came out of Keefe's mouth as he rolled over in the dewy grass.

"Talk about disrespectful," muttered Sarah. "FINE!" she yelled, crossing her arms atop her chest. "If you're not gonna get up, I'll go rescue them myself!"

"I'm up, I'm up," scowled Keefe, pulling himself up to his knees. "Jeez, warn a guy."

"There's no time to 'warn a guy,'" Sarah said, holding up her fingers to quote him. "Right now we need to save our- your friends." When she corrected herself, a sad expression glinted in her eyes.

Keefe yawned, putting a gentle arm on Sarah's shoulders. "I'm kinda tired right now; can we think of a plan later? After we can think rationally and have food in our stomachs?"

Sarah hurriedly pressed a hand to Keefe's forehead.

"What are you doing?" Keefe sleepily asked.

"Checking to make sure you're okay. Ohhhh no." Suddenly Sarah groaned and reached for her ripped satchel, rummaging inside.

Confused, Keefe glanced from Sarah to the satchel. "What is it?"

Sarah gritted her teeth as she ransacked the bag, pouring out all its contents. A few healing balms, some yeti pee in a jar, one half filled bottle of Youth and some foil as remnant from the sandwich she'd fed Keefe tumbled onto the ground. "We're out of rations," she mumbled.

"What?" Keefe blinked, bolting upright. "What did you say?"

Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose. "I said, we're out of rations."

Keefe nodded but his face was blank.

"Dude, are you okay?" Sarah waved a hand in front of his eyes.

He stared right through it. Then his eyes zoomed in on the overturned satchel. "You sure?" he asked. "We can always lick the wrapping." He pointed at the aluminum foil Sarah had tossed into the bag after unwrapping the sandwich she'd given Keefe.

"Eww, no way, man," Sarah shook her head. "That's just wrong."

"Would you prefer the yeti pee?" Keefe wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Gross! You're disgusting," Sarah said, biting her upper lip and picking up the foil slowly. "Wait- there are some crumbs on here," she cried miraculously and started to lap at the plastic, trying to eat all the bread crumbs left.

"Hey! Leave some for me," argued Keefe, rushing over to his sister and sticking his head out, headbutting Sarah. She was shoved back and now Keefe was devouring the tiny bits of lettuce remaining, purposely chewing some of the aluminum.

"Oi! Uncool, bro!" Sarah yelled, crawling back to the foil and licking voraciously.

"Oh wait- I think we're forgetting something," Keefe stopped trying to eat the wrapping itself now and sat, wrinkled forehead in perusal.

"What?" Sarah enquired curiously.

"We're at Everglen." Keefe jabbed a finger in the grand house's direction, which wasn't that far considering they were basically in its backyard.

Sarah's eyes widen. "We've been so stupid!"

"Exactly." Keefe nodded.

"We need to go replenish our hunger and then think of a plan on how to rescue our friends," Sarah concluded.

* * *

**A/N: This week I've been pretty productive on FF because I've been putting off schoolwork, hehe, but anyways, hope you liked this ALSO FILLER. I promise I'll get to the plot as fast as I can, but for now, I guess I'm lazy so yeah.**


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N: OMGGG! We're at Chapter 20! Okay, calm down, *sighs and takes deep breaths* Mk, all calm now. So, last chap I forgot to answer to reviews (SORRY!) so Imma do it now.  
**

**RamenG: Here ya go lol.**

**Fan Person: Lmao, sorry but I don't rlly have a fixed schedule. You just motivated me, tho, so maybe I can try once every week or two weeks at least? Well, not to reveal too much, but when I was writing Chapter Sixteen I figured Gethen just found Sarah mildly attractive while Alvar liked her. Anyways, that's a good idea. I'll consider sifting it in along with the plot. Thank you for reviewing! :)**

**Satmage: Really? Reviews like this make me beam. Thx for reviewing and making me smile. :). I hope you'll keep reading on!**

**bookbedhead1****01: Happy (late) holidays too, lol. Ty for reviewing!**

**Sokeefe54335: Thanks for reviewing :D. I'm not ending this yet, sorry for the infrequent updates :/.**

* * *

*Chapter 20*

THEY sat at the table, happily munching on mallowmelt while Alden and Della interrogated them. "Who was there?" Alden asked.

Keefe shoveled a large chunk of the gooey goodness into his mouth and mumbled incoherently.

Della rolled her sad cobalt blue eyes and said quietly, "We can wait until he's finished eating, Alden."

Alden sighed, pacing around the kitchen, his footsteps heard all over the creaky kitchen floor. "I'll answer any questions you have," piped up Sarah, who had cleaned her mallowmelt plate within seconds of sight.

Alden nodded gratefully and Della pulled him into a chair, kissing his cheek briefly, taking his hand and caressing it. "It's okay," she whispered, "we'll find them. We will."

Keefe of course, finished eating now and stared at the proximity Della was to Alden and gagged into his hand. "Gross. Can you guys save the lovey-dovey stuff for later?" he joked, trying to ease the mood.

Sarah chuckled sourly, rubbing her cold arms. Della laughed softly, a forced laugh that held no depth of joy in it. Clearly she too was suffering gravely from the disappearance of her children and their close friends.

Alden began the interrogation, resting a weak hand subtly on Della's shoulder. "Which Neverseen members were in the Amazon before they were taken?"

Keefe held out a hand and monotonously listed them off, "Lady Gisela, Fintan, and Alvar I think." Sarah's eyes averted to her hands tucked neatly in her lap at the last name's mention.

Alden nodded and quickly jotted the names down on a sheet of paper laid on the table in front of him. "Can I have more mallowmelt?" Keefe blurted out, staring at the empty plate as if it held the secrets of the universe.

"Of course, Keefe," Della kindly told him and grabbed his plate, glancing over to Sarah. "Sarah, would you like a second helping as well?"

"Yeah, thanks," Sarah replied, holding her head in her hands and sounding rather drained.

Della smiled forcefully and took Sarah's plate as well, her fists white and tightly squeezing the edges of the plates she was carrying into the kitchen. "Is she... okay?" Keefe blinked at her.

Alden shrugged his shoulders. "We all have different ways of coping. You're lucky to still have your sister, Keefe."

Keefe's ice-blue eyes hardened on his sister. "Yeah you're right." He walked over to her and sat down in the chair beside her.

Sarah lifted her head out from her hands and blinked. "Why'd you change your spot, Keefe?"

Keefe slung an arm around the back of her chair. "I dunno. Just wanted to sit next to my sister." Sarah rolled her eyes but offered a weak smile.

Once Della returned with new plates of mallowmelt for everyone, Alden resumed pummeling the siblings with questions. "Do you remember if they brought anything with them? Did you see the light crystals they brought, if any?"

Keefe sunk in his chair and Sarah's eyes were focused on the wall.

Alden banged his fist on the table. "Answer!" he yelled furiously, his teal eyes stony.

Della raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. "Alden, I realize everything is difficult right now but we must remain calm and not antagonize each other."

Alden took a deep breath and relaxed. "You're right. I'm sorry. I want to find them. So so badly. But I know we should keep together and form a rational plan, not a hasty one developed as a result of raw emotions colliding into one another in a hurry."

Della nodded. "There you are."

Alden sheepishly rubbed his eyes. "Yes. Now, instead of my asking you individual questions regarding the scene, could each of you take turns retelling me the story from your separate perspectives? Perhaps then we'll be able to form a bit of a theory." He studiously eyed Sarah, and then Keefe. "Who wants to go first?"

Keefe and Sarah's heads snapped at each other. "He will," Sarah said at the same time as Keefe declared, "I will."

Sarah flushed. "Sorry Keefe," she mumbled in embarrassment.

"So you wanna go first?" Keefe eagerly read out.

"Nope!" Sarah shook her head. "No regrets! Tell 'em, Keefe!"

Keefe grumbled something about his heartless sister, but after Alden's sad gaze, he quickly scrambled to start.

* * *

**A/N: Yikes, been awhile since my last update. O.o but you can (maybe) expect more updates bc of the coronavirus and my boredom. Okay, now that it's nearly midnight I better hit post and go to bed XD.**


	22. Chapter 21

**A/N: Yep, that's right, people! I'm baaaack! Well, it's barely been two weeks, so it's kind of a record lol. There was a sudden burst in reviews, which reminded me, 'Cary, you have to update, girl!' I'm so sorry for the relatively long wait. I felt kind of uninspired for a while and kept procrastinating the next update. And sooo here it is XD right after the reviews:**

**Guest: Heeere it is! Aww, thank you 3!**

**Fan Person (2): Done :). Thanks for reviewing twice on the same chapter lol. It kind of lifts my spirits up to know that the first fanfiction I started here on FF has a few dedicated readers :D.**

**I'm A Person: Awww, thank you so much! :D You're probably boosting my ego level too high XD. Thank you SO MUCH for letting me know that. I'm honored to be the first fanfiction you reviewed for :). 3 Thanks for reviewing and I hope you'll like this chapter.**

**Fan Person (1): No problem. 3. Aww, you literally don't know how happy that makes me lmao. I'm so glad to hear that. :)**

* * *

*Chapter 21*

Keefe wrapped an arm around Sarah. "No, no, no. We're not doing that," he told Mr. Forkle.

"Um, Keefe," wheezed Sarah. "Can't... breathe."

Keefe loosed his grip a little but did not remove his arm from Sarah's shoulders. Mr. Forkle's wrinkly face made by ruckleberries contorted into a small frown. "I'm afraid we don't have a choice, Mr. Sencen," he answered with a note of regret.

"We're not turning Sarah over to the Neverseen!" spat Keefe, his ice-blue eyes swamped with terror. "She barely escaped this time. And I was there! How would she-"

Sarah cleared her throat. "Keefe," she remarked coolly, "might I remind you that you were unconscious at the time? I had to drag you the whole time."

Keefe's stony expression shifted into something softer. "Well okay. That part's true. But still!"

Mr. Forkle wanly smiled. "I know, Keefe. But don't worry. She seems to be capable of protecting herself. I dislike putting her at risk- or any of you! But having a double agent could serve us well. The Neverseen is unaware that we have already met Ms. Karcey-"

"Sarah," she corrected curtly.

Mr. Forkle nodded respectfully. "Sarah," he corrected himself, "and therefore we have an advantage over them."

Sarah shrugged Keefe's arm off. "He has a point, Keefe," she admitted, crossing her arms on her chest with an expression of realization.

Mr. Forkle nodded. "I'm sorry, Mr. Sencen. But clearly she is important for their Initiative of sorts, and you've seen how she wasn't harmed."

"Unlike me," mumbled Keefe.

"Exactly," Mr. Forkle answered. "You know that. If you go with your sister, you endanger yourself and possibly her."

Keefe's shoulders slumped and he lowered his gaze to the floor. "I know," he whispered. "But I don't like the idea of leaving Sarah to fend for herself."

"Again, must I remind you I basically fended for myself AND rescued you just yesterday?" Sarah reminded him matter-of-factly.

Mr. Forkle nodded and walked outside, gesturing for them to follow.

Sarah turned her head around only to see her brother, clenched fists held by his sides and a pale face. "Keefe," she murmured, linking their hands together. She used her other hand to lift his chin up. "Keefe," she repeated annoyedly.

"Yeah?" he grumbled. "What is it?"

Sarah squeezed his hand and pulled gently. "C'mon. It's gonna be okay," she said softly.

"How do you know that?" Keefe cried. "Do you even know how I feel right now, Sarah? In the course of one week, I learn that I apparently have a twin sister that the Lord of Lameness and our oh-so-nice mumsy hid from me all my life, lose her, get her back, and then lose her, and then get her back again. Sheer luck won't help you every time, you know."

Sarah pursed her lips, her pinkish-now-fading-to-blonde-hair falling flatly down her back and touching the tips of her chin. She pulled her hand out of Keefe's. "Yeah, believe me, I know that, Keefe. It's not sheer luck, though. Luck helps but I definitely don't rely on it. Do you guys? With your... issues... that I'm kept in the dark about, remember, do you rely on luck to save the day?"

She didn't wait for his response. "I bet you don't. 'Cause you can't. Luck is coincidence. If you rely on nothing but luck you can be sure you'll be very unlucky. So you can't just say that, Keefe. I'm much stronger than you give me credit for. And I'm your sister. Do _you_ know how _I_ feel when you brush off any achievement I make? Yeah, go ahead and say it's because you're 'worried about me.'" Sarah held up her fingers and wiggled them in air-quotes. "But is that really it? Maybe you just want to be the better twin.

"I know everything flipped 180 degrees when I came. When we discovered we're twins. I know after that, nothing was ever the same for you. I know now people will judge you. Judge me. Judge us. I figured that didn't matter.

"I was happy, Keefe. Jeez. You know, I had to leave my supposed family behind, back in the Forbidden Cities. That hurt me more than I'd like to admit. I thought I was on my own now. I thought I had to rely on nothing but myself. I thought I'd be my own cheerleader from then on.

"And then you know how I felt when I found out we were twins? A little indignant first, heck, I was even paranoid after that. But once I realized what I had... I appreciated it. Having a brother to confide in, a twin. Someone to connect with. You know? And when you dismiss me like that, it stings, Keefe. It's not a nice feeling," Sarah finishes, her breathing labored as she slammed her hands onto the walls.

She peeled them off and whirled around to glare at her twin. "I'm gonna go now. And I'm going to return to the Neverseen whether you like it or not. At least there, my talents will be appreciated by both sides of the war."

She spun on her toes and stalked out of the house, returning to Mr. Forkle.

Meanwhile, Keefe was running his hand through his dirty-blond hair, the messy strands sweeping through his fingers. He gritted his teeth and stared at the wall. "Did I say something? Why did she overreact like that?" he muttered to himself.

He lifted his eyes to the open door, outside where Sarah was probably long gone by now.

Keefe rubbed the back of his neck and raced after his sister. The wet grass brushed his shoes and there was a pleasant rainy smell in the humid air. "Did she go?" he rushed to ask, but his tense stance relaxed when he spotted his twin sister standing beside a tree, Mr. Forkle instructing her on what to do should any suspicion arise with the Neverseen.

Mr. Forkle raised his eyebrows when he noticed Keefe walking towards them. "Keefe, this is her decision to make," he reminded him sternly.

Keefe nodded sheepishly. "I know, Forklenator."

A hint of a smile played on Mr. Forkle's wrinkled cheeks. "So the name's back," he mumbled. "Great. And I thought I'd finally lost it."

"Haha, nope," Keefe's trademark smirk spread on his rough lips. "Not if I can help it." He joined his sister, who was doing a good job of ignoring him. "Look, Sarah, I'm sorry," he apologized. "I swear I care about you. You're right, in a way. It... did change everything. But it was for the better. Having a sister, having you, Sarah, it balances the weight. I never had someone I genuinely cared about who was actually related to me-" Sarah cracked a weak smile at that. "-and yeah, I guess maybe I got a little too overprotective. But it's just 'cause I don't wanna lose you."

Sarah shrugged. "Fine. I forgive you. On one condition."

Keefe quirked a small smile. "What?"

"Hug?" Sarah whispered.

Keefe grinned. "I wasn't gonna let you leave without one." He wrapped his arms around Sarah tightly. "I love you, Sarah," he mumbled. "You better not die."

Tears sprung in Sarah's eyes as she pulled away. "I won't," she grinned.

Mr. Forkle cleared his throat. "Is everything in order now?" he asked, lifting a hand to dab at his eyes. Apparently this forgiving brother-sister reunion touched him.

"Yup," Sarah replied, patting Keefe's arm. She hummed the Mission Impossible theme as she approached the tree with a ready smirk on her facade. "Time to become a double agent."

* * *

**A/N: *sniffs* Gosh, that kinda got me emotional. Anyways, this chapter has like 1,200 words, (not including the a/ns) which is longer than most of the more recent chapters of this fanfiction. I call that progress lol.**

** 3 I love you guys. Stay safe!  
**


	23. Chapter 22

**A/N: omg I can't believe it's been three months *grabs a tissue and wipes eyes* oml I'm so sorry! I'm alive, I'm alive! I'm just rlly inactive on ff. I can't believe ppl are still reading it even tho I haven't updated in a century. it made me feel so fricken guilty to know that yall are still awaiting an update... so I wrote this for you guys 3.**

** btw, i made an account on wattpad and this fanfic is uploaded on there although the updates will always be posted here first :) I'm ilikethemsaltyy if anyone wants to check my prof out. thanks!  
**

**reviewssss:**

**totallynotobsessedwithfiction: oml this made my day tysm. haha thanks :) I hoped I'd captured his character well. awwwww that makes me feel so happy like you wouldn't believe. :) ty for reviewing.**

**LokiLover3000: ty! ahhhh ik ik I'm so sorry it's been forever!**

**Swizzlespice: awww omg thank you so much! :)**

**Fan Person: yesss it's such a great fanfic! lol i get it dw. if you keep allll your fangirling energy inside you it's bound to explode someday. awwww omf i'm literally so honored rn. you too :) haha i read everything! i think i read some of that too! it's rlly good but i ship sokeefeee!**

**I'm A Person: awww it's no problem bby :) awww yesss some do, i like to. lolll unfortunately brothers irl aren't like that. thanks for your input :) yeah, idk, a lot of the characters tend to accept crap really fast in my fanfics. it's not my strongest point whoops. ty for reviewing!**

**jefuc2021: thank youuu! lolll sorry! awwww tysm for reading n reviewingggg! **

**Sokeefe54335: thank you! oh really? sure I will :) sounds interesting.**

* * *

*Chapter 22*

Her fingers pressed against the wood, and she breathed in to steady herself. Sarah glanced over to Mr Forkle, and then at Keefe. A small smile unfolded on the corners of her cheeks, and she pushed a stray curl out of her eyes.

"Ready?" Mr Forkle checked.

"Bye, Sarah," Keefe softly whispered.

"Bye," Sarah answered, and she spread her fingers out on the bark, closing her eyes in concentration as she struggled to remember the vaguest of details. She couldn't remember if the hideout had any trees but-

She narrowed her eyes determinedly as she realized the perfect spot, the image of the cedar tree springing in her mind. "I'm ready," she murmured, and funneled all her energy into the tree.

* * *

Sarah flashed through the tree, her body rolling down the grass and hitting a shoe. "Oof." She rubbed her head, groaning. "I swear I'm never gonna get used to that." She sighed, dusting off her pants and climbing to her feet, only to come face to face with none other than Alvar. "Well this is a little awkward," Sarah mumbled, her cheeks heating up as Alvar grabbed her by the arm.

He narrowed his eyes. "You kissed me as a distraction to escape, of course it's awkward! What are you doing back here, anyways?"

Sarah bit her lip. "Believe it or not, I thought long and hard about this. You said I have to pick a side in the war. I hate both options but I decided to return to you guys."

Alvar scoffed, his clutch on Sarah's arm tightening. "And I'm supposed to believe that?"

"I said, believe it or not." Sarah shrugged. "Please give me a chance, Alvar," she pleaded, her ice blue eyes fixating on him beggingly.

Alvar rolled his eyes. "You honestly expect me to fall hook, line, and sinker for that? You're probably a double agent for the _Black_ _Swan_." The way he sounded the last few words made it seem as though they were taboo.

_Ouch_, thought Sarah. _That hit the nail right on the mark. Well, Mr Forkle did tell me not to expect them to believe me immediately. I have to work for their trust. If they'd trust me now after I've ditched them endless times, it'd obviously be a trap._ She shrugged. "I mean, my brother is a part of them. I see why that'd seem like a viable option. Except, I don't care about Keefe anymore."

Alvar raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" He tugged at Sarah's arm, forcing her to walk alongside him.

"We barely know each other. For sixteen years we've been living our own lives. I don't see why now any of that should change," she lied.

"You seemed like you cared about him a lot the last time I saw you both," observed Alvar, quirking the sides of his lips up in a sort of smirk. "Remember the whole manipulation act you pulled? Which, I gotta say, was pretty impressive. I thought you had actual feelings for me, but that was some excellent acting."

_Except it wasn't really,_ thought Sarah with an inward sigh. _I do have feelings for Alvar, as much as I hate to admit it._ She shrugged. "I was pretty good in my high school adaptation of _Hamlet_," she admitted. "I guess some of that theater skill resurfaced in me." She grinned, although it felt very much forced.

Alvar frowned, pausing in his tracks. "Wait a minute. How were you able to flash through the tree to here? Gisela put up security measures so no one, not even you your Quercatemming, could bypass it."

Sarah frowned. "I don't-"

"Karcey, back so soon, I see? Yes, Alvar, I knew she'd return, so I took the liberty of readjusting our security."

Sarah pursed her lips at the familiar snide voice. Her head whipped around, her long and worn blond tresses bouncing over her shoulders. "Lady Gisela," she breathed.

"Karcey," Gisela curtly acknowledged, making Sarah's blood boil. Couldn't she just call her by her preferred name? No, she had to keep using 'Karcey' purely because it triggered her so much! "Put her in the dungeon," she snapped at Alvar.

Alvar's eyes widened. "But, isn't she-"

"No traitorous daughter of mine is going to have a comfortable quarters until we know the exact reasons for her return. So, Alvar. Leap her to the hideout and put her in the dungeons."

* * *

"Alvar?" Sarah tried. Alvar didn't answer as he clapped a gauntlet over Sarah's ankle. "Alvar, I know you kind of hate me for what I did but if you'd just listen-" _Kind of? Oh, he definitely hates you,_ a voice inside Sarah's head piped up.

Alvar snapped his head and his intense cobalt blue eyes clouded over with several emotions that Sarah could hardly distinguish because they were all mixed into a violent storm of swirls. "Shut up," he coldly ordered, grabbing another gauntlet and chaining Sarah to the wall, forcing her to lower her body to the ground. The cold metal pressing against her skin wasn't the pleasantest of feelings. Not to mention the concrete she had to sit her butt on.

She sighed, putting her face in her hands. "I'm sorry, Alvar," she muttered. "I swear I never meant to... Can you forgive me?" Inside she was cringing. She sounded so _fake_. Probably because displays of affection that required real emotion to pull off were really hard for Sarah to recreate.

Alvar ignored her, and after finishing attaching her chains to the wall, he walked right out of the cell, sliding the door shut. Sarah heard the faint click of the lock and then the faint footsteps that faded with every second. Until eventually she was in complete silence.

"God, what mess have I gotten myself into now?" Sarah whispered to herself, her back sliding against the wall. She buried her face in her hands and rubbed her eyes, staring at the grey walls surrounding her.

_ At least Keefe's safe,_ she reminded herself, and that was the thought that kept her going through the entire night.

* * *

**A/N: pleeeeaaassseee review! was this chapter any good? I'm sorry, it's been a while since I last wrote anything on ff, so I might be a little rusty. 3 love you guys. ty for reading.  
**


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